Justice in Mining Network

  January, 2025 Justice in Mining Network  Newsletter 1. Discussion on PESA, Fifth Schedule and Land Governance: 3 January 2025 over Jaipal Singh Munda’s Birth Anniversary Panchayats (Extension to Fifth Scheduled Areas) Act (PESA), 1996 ensures self-governance through gram sabha in Fifth and Sixth Scheduled Areas of India, listed in the Part IX of the Indian Constitution. PESA is a crucial tool against land grab for extractive industries in the mineral-laden Adivasi territories as gram sabha’s approval is mandatory for “developmental” projects. The ten states of India- Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Telangana, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram. Jharkhand has however, not yet implemented PESA. Concerns have been raised over the proposed Jharkhand Panchayati Raj Act (JPRA), 2001 because the power and autonomy of the gram sabhas, as suggested by Bhuria Committee in PESA, is significantly miss...