PANCHAYAT EXTENTION OF SCHEDULED AREA (PESA), what happened to this law?

 

 

Under PESA gram sabhas have been given powers but there is no success, is the argument of the detractors of our gram Sabha model. They claim that under PESA the backward areas have made no progress, nothing is visible to prove that giving power to gram sabhas can bring about a change. They say that gram sabhas are ineffective and non existent.

 

 

On the other hand truncated powers are given to the gram sabhas under PESA. Whatever is provided for in the law under PESA the state government does not even implement that.

 

 

PESA states that the plan for development in the village would be made in the gram Sabha. In other words, how the government money would be spent in the village will be decided by the gram Sabha. The statistics show that money is allotted to the villages under various schemes of the central government. This is not free fund. The money that is to be spent, where and how in a village, is already decided at the capital of the country. 

 

 

Then how will the villagers make their own project plans? 

 

The funny thing is that villages have been given the right to spend the money in a way that they want but the money is not given. Under PESA there is no provision of control of any sort over the government officials. Under PESA no control is given over the government officials like village teachers, forest officers, health officer, tehsildar and the police officers. Gram Sabha can take any decision but all these officials are the ones who will implement the plans formulated by the villagers. 

 

 

If these officials do not implement the decisions taken by gram sabhas then the gram sabhas can take no punitive action against them. These officials are under the state government. They are employees of the state government and not the gram sabhas. Mostly it is seen that instead of obeying the wishes of the gram sabhas the indulge in victimization of the villagers, The PESA law clearly states that before acquiring the village land the government will enter into a dialogue for seeking approval with the gram sabhas.

 

 

In most places it is observed that this dialogue is a mere formality. In reality, after this formality, police is brought into the picture and land is acquired

forcibly.

 

 

PESA is far more liberal than the law of gram panchayat. Unless the right is given to gram sabhas over the control of free fund, control over government officials and the natural resources until then this dream of Swaraj cannot become a reality.