Impact Of PESA Rules 2025 Implementation On Tribal Governance And Gram Sabha Empowerment In Jharkhand
- IJLLR Journal
- Feb 24
- 2 min read
Akash Kumar Sinha, National University of Study and Research in Law
ABSTRACT
PESA or the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 was enacted to fulfill the constitutional vision of the democratic decentralisation and tribal self-governance by empowering the Gram Sabha as the main authority in the Scheduled Areas. PESA also aims at safeguarding the traditional laws, traditions and resource-management systems of the tribal population based on the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution, yet would extend the framework of Panchayati Raj Institutions in a way that is sensitive to their particular socio-cultural realities. Although it has a transformative potential, the introduction of PESA has been unevenly distributed among the States, with Jharkhand being one of the States that have been keeping the necessary mandated rules to functionalise its rules after more than 25 years.
The paper is a critical analysis of the Provisions of The Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Jharkhand Rules, 2025, hereafter called “Jharkhand PESA Rules, 2025” which was finally notified almost twenty-five years after the enactment of the Act, and the High Court of Jharkhand continued to assert itself on the role of judicial intervention. The study by placing the Rules within the constitutional and legislative context of the PESA determines whether the recently enacted Rules are really promoting the goal of tribal self-governance or are a sham compliance strategy by the state government or by protecting themselves by the contempt proceedings of the High court. The paper through a doctrinal analysis of the statutory provisions, judicial rulings and administrative practices, draws a number of examples where the Rules undermine the powers of the Gram Sabha by making its rulings subject to Gram Panchayats and administrative authorities, prioritizing the State and Central laws to the customary practices, and providing ambiguity in dispute settlement and land ownership.
The paper suggests that even though the announcement of the Jharkhand PESA Rules, 2025 represents a major procedural breakthrough, the active circumvention of the PESA Act on a substantive level contradicts the constitutional claim of participative and community-based governance. It claims that the PESA can meaningfully be implemented only with changes in the Rules to re-establish the primacy of the Gram Sabha, assure conformity to customary laws and to curb overreach by the administration. The paper identifies the pressing importance of harmonising the rules with the parent Act in real. The ability of the tribal independence, conserving of community resources, and the upholding of tribal self-rule in Scheduled Areas.
Keywords: PESA Rules, PESA Act, Jharkhand, Gram Sabha, Panchayat, Scheduled Areas.
