Home › PYQs › Polity › All questions › 2013 · PESA, 1996
UPSC Prelims 2013 · Polity · Panchayats & Municipalities
The Government enacted the Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act in 1996. Which one of the following is not identified as its objective?
- (a) To provide self-governance
- (b) To recognize traditional rights
- (c) To create autonomous regions in tribal areas
- (d) To free tribal people from exploitation
Show the answer and explanation
Answer: (c) To create autonomous regions in tribal areas
Autonomous regions (district councils) belong to the Sixth Schedule. PESA extends Panchayats to Fifth Schedule areas instead.
The idea
PESA (Bhuria Committee) extends Part IX to Fifth Schedule areas in ten States and makes the gram sabha central: consent for land acquisition, ownership of minor forest produce, control of minor water bodies, of moneylending and of liquor sale.
Why the others are wrong
(a) Self-governance through the gram sabha is PESA’s core objective.
(b) PESA respects customary law, social and religious practices, and traditional management of community resources.
(d) Protection from land alienation and moneylending exploitation is built into PESA.
The trap
“Autonomous” sounds like “self-governance” (a). The first means a separate regional government (Sixth Schedule); the second means gram sabha power (PESA).
🔒 PESA 1996 = Part IX extended to Fifth Schedule areas, 10 States · gram sabha supreme · autonomous councils are Sixth Schedule, not PESA.
Solve this chapter interactively →All Polity questions