Revision summary
Traditional councils are customary lineage bodies for land, marriage, and offence. PESA Gram Sabha is a statutory assembly in Fifth Schedule areas. PESA lists powers over MFP, intoxicants, and consultation on land. Niyamgiri showed a sabha using statute against a mine. Both can be captured; they often run in parallel.
Model answer
Introduction
A traditional tribal council is a customary body of elders or clan heads that settles land, marriage, and offence. The PESA Gram Sabha is a statutory village assembly with listed resource powers in Fifth Schedule areas.
Body
Traditional council
- Bodies such as the Santal manjhi-parganait, Munda panch, Gond panch, and Naga village council rest on lineage and custom, not on a 1996 Act.
- They hear witch accusations, marriage, and forest share in local idiom. Verrier Elwin valued that living law against a clerk’s court.
- G. S. Ghurye was cooler, seeing custom as often stacked toward local strong men.
PESA Gram Sabha
- PESA, 1996, after the Bhuria Committee, names the Gram Sabha as competent over land acquisition consultation, minor forest produce, intoxicants, and village plans in Scheduled Areas.
- Membership is the electoral village, including women and non-lineage residents who custom might have kept out.
- Minutes, quorum, and state PESA rules make it a fileable body for FRA claims and mining hearings, as at Niyamgiri.
Comparison
- Custom is fast and thick in kinship. PESA is slower and thicker in statute.
- Parallel power is the usual field fact: council sits at night, sabha sits for the scheme. Elite capture can infect both.
- Where the Act was not notified in full, the traditional council still does the work and the sabha is a signature meeting.
Flow diagram
flowchart TD T[Traditional council] --> C[Custom lineage] P[PESA Gram Sabha] --> S[Statute MFP land] T --> V[Village order] P --> V
Conclusion
Traditional councils run living customary law. PESA Gram Sabhas run listed statutory powers for the same villages. Function overlaps; legitimacy and paperwork do not.
Quick related
Students also ask
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Explain how British policies impacted the major resources of the tribals
Next question in the 2022 paper (Q6). View answer →
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Does PESA abolish the traditional council?
No. It creates a statutory sabha. Customary councils often continue.
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Who is more democratic?
PESA includes all adults on the roll. Traditional councils may exclude women or in-migrants. Practice varies.
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