Jharkhand govt notified PESA rules to favour infiltrators, alleges Champai Soren

Ranchi, Jan 6 (PTI) Former Jharkhand chief minister and BJP leader Champai Soren on Tuesday alleged that the JMM-led government has implemented the PESA rules to "favour infiltrators" and "weaken the rights of tribals".

The state government has "subtly omitted certain core phrases, such as customary laws and social and religious practices from the provisions related to the 'gram sabha' and village governance" in the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996, he claimed.

"The rules would enable infiltrators and religiously converted tribals to become chairmen of 'gram sabhas'. These would create division among tribal people and are not acceptable because these provisions in the rules are completely contrary to the PESA Act, 1996," he alleged.

The Jharkhand government notified the rules on January 2, after those were approved by the cabinet on December 23 last year.

“There is no need to go through the recently notified PESA rules, because the rights of tribals were compromised on the first page. It weakened the rights of tribals," the former CM claimed.

The Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 specifies that the self-governing system — based on customary laws, religious practices, and traditions that have existed since ancient times — shall be called the ‘gram sabha’.

"But the PESA rules notified by the state government mention only traditions while defining gram sabhas,” the BJP leader claimed. PTI RPS RPS BDC