Madhya Pradesh has notified its PESA Rules on the occasion of Janjatiya Gaurav Divas on 15thNovember, 2022. At the State Level Janjatiya Gaurav Divas Sammelan at Shahdol in Madhya Pradesh, Governor of Madhya Pradesh Shri Mangubhai Patel handed over the first copy of the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act () Manual to the President of India Smt. Droupadi Murmu.
The PESA Act, now under implementation in Madhya Pradesh, will empower the Gram Sabhas to take decision on the rules and regulations with regard to all Resources“>Natural Resources in the forest areas. The PESA Act will give more constitutional rights to the tribal people to reap the benefits of natural resources from the forest areas where they live.
With the objective of effective implementation of PESA, Ministry of Panchayati Raj circulated Draft Model PESA Rules in 2009. Based on continuous advocacy and Persuasion by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj eight States namely; Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana have notified their State PESA Rules under their respective State Panchayati Raj Acts. Recently, State of Chhattisgarh has notified their PESA Rules on 8thAugust, 2022. In the States of Jharkhand and Odisha the process of inter-Departmental consultation is still in progress.
To bring the people residing in Fifth Schedule Areas in the mainstream, the Parliament, in terms of Article 243M(4)(b) of the Constitution, has enacted the Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (PESA) to extend Part IX of the Constitution, relating to Panchayats, to the Fifth Schedule areas, with certain modifications and exceptions. States, having Fifth Schedule Areas, have been empowered to make Panchayat Laws for these areas.