The Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996

The Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996, also known as PESA, extends Part IX of the Constitution of India to Scheduled Areas. It came into effect on December 24, 1996. The Constitution (Seventy-Third Amendment) Act, 1992 inserted Part IX into the Constitution, which stipulates the creation of governing structures at the village, intermediate and district levels. This Act was meant to strengthen rural self-governance but did not apply to Scheduled Areas. It left it to parliament to make another law that would extend Part IX to these areas. In 1994, the central government set up a committee chaired by Lok Sabha member of parliament Dilip Singh Bhuria to examine various dimensions of tribal self-rule and recommend how Part IX could be applied to Scheduled Areas. Based on these recommendations, the Indian parliament enacted PESA in 1996.