DIRECT ANSWER: Corporate encroachment on tribal lands signifies a critical failure in the implementation of the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act (PESA), 1996, and constitutional provisions like the Fifth and Sixth Schedules. This dilution of mandatory Gram Sabha consent violates tribal autonomy, leading to widespread land alienation and resource exploitation despite robust statutory safeguards.
Why in News?
Recent reports, particularly concerning alleged land takeovers by corporate entities in Assam (a Sixth Schedule state) and other Scheduled Areas, have brought the issue of tribal land alienation to the forefront. These incidents underscore the pervasive governance deficit where protective legal frameworks, specifically those guaranteeing the rights of tribal communities over their traditional lands (Jal, Jangal, Zameen), are systematically bypassed or neutralized for commercial interests.
What is the Concept / Issue?
The core issue is the conflict between constitutional mandate and executive action. PESA and the Scheduled Area provisions grant the Gram Sabha the power to safeguard tribal rights, especially mandatory consultation and consent before land acquisition, resettlement, or mining leases. Corporate encroachment involves illegal or quasi-legal transfer of tribal land, facilitated by loopholes, administrative apathy, or political collusion, violating the spirit of tribal self-governance and protection against non-tribal resource acquisition.
Why is this Issue Important?
- Strategic: Upholding the integrity of the Constitution, specifically Article 244 and 339, which define the special governance structures for Scheduled Areas. Failure erodes tribal faith in democratic institutions and legal systems.
- Economic: Directly impacts the sustainability of tribal economies, which are intrinsically linked to forest resources and land ownership. Corporate entry often displaces traditional livelihoods (e.g., shifting cultivation, collection of minor forest produce).
- Geopolitical/Social: Land alienation is a primary driver of internal conflict, social unrest, and radicalization, rooted in historical injustice and failure to recognize customary rights, often intersecting with issues of internal security.
Key Sectors / Dimensions Involved
- Dimension 1 (Legal & Governance): Failure of state governments to enact robust, PESA-compliant rules; frequent clashes between national land acquisition acts (e.g., LARR Act, 2013) and PESA provisions, often prioritizing infrastructural development over indigenous rights.
- Dimension 2 (Socio-Economic): Mass displacement, lack of equitable compensation, increased poverty, loss of cultural heritage, and failure to rehabilitate communities affected by extractive industries (mining, large plantations).
- Dimension 3 (Environmental Justice): Tribal lands often encompass ecologically sensitive areas (forests, watersheds). Corporate exploitation leads to deforestation, biodiversity loss, and climate vulnerability, violating the objectives of the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006.
What are the Challenges?
- **State-Level Dilution:** State governments frequently dilute PESA's mandated consent powers, reducing Gram Sabha authority to merely advisory roles, contrary to Supreme Court rulings (e.g., Samatha Judgement).
- **Administrative Complicity:** Lack of political will and accountability that allows revenue and forest officials to facilitate fraudulent land transfers or overlook mandated restoration of illegally alienated lands.
- **Fragmented Land Records:** Absence of clear, updated land records and failure to incorporate customary land ownership systems into formal records, making documentation vulnerable to manipulation.
- **Lack of Specialized Institutions:** The requirement for Tribes Advisory Councils (TACs) under the Fifth Schedule remains largely performative, lacking effective enforcement powers to veto unlawful corporate ventures.
UPSC Relevance
Prelims Focus:
- Provisions and key powers of PESA, 1996 (Applicability, Role of Gram Sabha).
- Fifth Schedule vs. Sixth Schedule (Geographical extent, differences in governance and autonomous district councils).
- Constitutional Articles: 244, 339, 340, and the core principle of Tribal Panchsheel.
Mains Angle:
GS Paper II / III – GS-II: Mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of vulnerable sections; issues relating to development and management. GS-III: Land reforms in India; Environmental degradation and resource management and sustainability.
How UPSC May Ask This Topic:
Despite robust constitutional safeguards and specific legislation like PESA, tribal land alienation continues unabated in India. Critically analyze the governance failures and administrative lacunae responsible for the dilution of Gram Sabha autonomy in Scheduled Areas. (15 Marks, 250 Words)
What is the Way Forward?
- **Mandatory PESA Compliance Review:** The Ministry of Tribal Affairs must strictly monitor and mandate states to align their land acquisition rules fully with the PESA requirement of prior, explicit Gram Sabha consent for resource exploitation.
- **Strengthening Accountability and Restoration:** Establish fast-track courts and specific accountability mechanisms to punish officials involved in illegal land transfers, alongside mandatory and timely restoration of alienated lands as stipulated by existing state laws.
- **Community Resource Mapping:** Expedite the mapping and formal recognition of Community Forest Resource (CFR) rights and Individual Forest Rights (IFR) under the FRA, 2006, ensuring documented collective ownership acts as a legal bulwark against corporate encroachment.
- **Independent Regulatory Oversight:** Create an independent, empowered body analogous to a Tribal Land Commission to audit resource development projects and monitor PESA implementation effectiveness in Scheduled Areas.