Who Dropped MESA_ _ Down to Earth

7/28/2019 Who Dropped MESA_ _ Down to Earth

1/11

6/22/13 Who dropped MESA? | Down To Earth

www.downtoearth.org.in/content/who-dropped-mesa 1/11

Hom e News Analys is S & T Editorial Colum ns Blogs Food Interviews Book Review Photo Gallery Print Archive E-Magazine

Log in New user (Subscribe here) Renew subscription Forgot your password?

Latest IssueJune 30, 2013

C O V E R S T O R Y

Transition failure

MOST POPULAR

SpecialReport

Post Comment

Print this article

Email to a friend

RELATE D ARTICLES

Who dropped MESA?

SC dismisses petitiondemanding exclusion ofSundargarh from purviewof municipal Act

Governors in the dock

Like 180 TweetTweet 4 1

Home Special Report

Who dropped MESA?1 Comments

Author(s): ,

Jun 15, 2013 | From the print edition

Government clueless about the Bill it introduced 12 years ago to govern

urban areas in tribal regions. Constitutional crisis follows

On May 7, the Supreme Court dismissed a petition demanding that tribal-

dominated Sundargarh district of Odisha be kept out of the purview of the

Orissa Municipal Act of1950. The petition, filed by Sundargarh Zilla

Adivasi Advocate Association (SZAAA), contended that the Act was not

applicable to Sundargarh as the district was listed under the Fifth

Schedule of the Constitution.

The Fifth Schedule of the Constitution mandates laws separate from the

Panchayati Raj Act and the Nagarpalika Act to administer villages and

towns in tribal-dominated areas. Parliament enacted the Panchayat

Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act in 1996 for rural tribal areas.

But a similar legislation for urban tribal areasthe Municipalities Extension

to Scheduled Areas (MESA), 2001, Billwas not enacted.

An investigation by Down To Earth shows at least 181 municipalities are

functioning unconstitutionally in scheduled areas of seven states (see

181 illegal civic bodies).

Follow us on

Search

Read Commented

Dhari Devi idol goes missing 3

Man-made reasons for Uttarakhanddisaster 7

NDMA drill had exposed gaps in statesdisaster management plan

Uttarakhand floods: is the disasterhuman-induced?

Missing idol of Dhari Devi found

Indians spending less on food, saysnational survey

Send

Jitendra @jitendrachoube1 Ranjini Basu
http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/uttarakhand-floods-disaster-human-inducedhttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/indians-spending-less-food-says-national-surveyhttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/man-made-reasons-uttarakhand-disasterhttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/who-dropped-mesa?quicktabs_1=0#quicktabs-1http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/sc-dismisses-petition-demanding-exclusion-tribal-district-sundargarh-purview-odisha-municipahttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/transition-failurehttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/transition-failurehttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/transition-failurehttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/printmail/41200http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/transition-failurehttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/print/41200http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/transition-failurehttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/transition-failurehttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/who-dropped-mesahttps://twitter.com/intent/tweet?original_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.downtoearth.org.in%2Fcontent%2Fwho-dropped-mesa&text=Who%20dropped%20MESA%3F%20%7C%20Down%20To%20Earth%3A&tw_p=tweetbutton&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.downtoearth.org.in%2Fcontent%2Fwho-dropped-mesa%23.UcW6jE2G4cM.twitterhttp://twitter.com/search?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.downtoearth.org.in%2Fcontent%2Fwho-dropped-mesahttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/http://www.downtoearth.org.in/category/section/special-reporthttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/http://www.downtoearth.org.in/news_listinghttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/coverstory-listing/allhttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/category/section/science-technologyhttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/category/section/editors-pagehttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/category/section/patently-absurdhttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/blog?id=allhttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/taxonomy/term/20351http://www.downtoearth.org.in/http://www.downtoearth.org.in/node/268http://www.downtoearth.org.in/node/1117http://www.downtoearth.org.in/node/1128http://www.downtoearth.org.in/node/268http://www.downtoearth.org.in/http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/indians-spending-less-food-says-national-surveyhttp://magazine.downtoearth.org.in/downtoearth/30062013/Home.aspxhttp://www.youtube.com/user/downtoearthfilms#p/uhttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/rss.xmlhttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/author/2153https://twitter.com/jitendrachoube1http://www.downtoearth.org.in/author/2080http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/indians-spending-less-food-says-national-surveyhttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/missing-idol-dhari-devi-foundhttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/uttarakhand-floods-disaster-human-inducedhttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/ndma-drill-had-exposed-gaps-state-s-disaster-management-planhttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/man-made-reasons-uttarakhand-disasterhttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/dhari-devi-idol-goes-missinghttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/who-dropped-mesa?quicktabs_1=1#quicktabs-1http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/who-dropped-mesa?quicktabs_1=0#quicktabs-1http://www.downtoearth.org.in/http://www.downtoearth.org.in/dte/userfiles/images/20130515_22L.jpghttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/node/123/2013-6-15http://www.downtoearth.org.in/category/section/special-reporthttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/http://twitter.com/search?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.downtoearth.org.in%2Fcontent%2Fwho-dropped-mesahttps://twitter.com/intent/tweet?original_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.downtoearth.org.in%2Fcontent%2Fwho-dropped-mesa&text=Who%20dropped%20MESA%3F%20%7C%20Down%20To%20Earth%3A&tw_p=tweetbutton&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.downtoearth.org.in%2Fcontent%2Fwho-dropped-mesa%23.UcW6jE2G4cM.twitterhttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/governors-dockhttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/sc-dismisses-petition-demanding-exclusion-tribal-district-sundargarh-purview-odisha-municipahttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/who-dropped-mesahttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/printmail/41200http://www.downtoearth.org.in/print/41200http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/who-dropped-mesa#comment_form_bookmarkhttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/node/1117http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/transition-failurehttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/node/123/2013-6-30http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/transition-failurehttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/rss.xmlhttp://www.youtube.com/user/downtoearthfilms#p/uhttps://plus.google.com/106293307783638713083http://www.facebook.com/down2earthindiahttp://twitter.com/@down2earthindiahttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/node/268http://www.downtoearth.org.in/node/1128http://www.downtoearth.org.in/node/1117http://www.downtoearth.org.in/node/268http://magazine.downtoearth.org.in/downtoearth/30062013/Home.aspxhttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/archives/http://www.downtoearth.org.in/node/389http://www.downtoearth.org.in/book_reviews_listinghttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/Interview_listinghttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/taxonomy/term/20351http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/blog?id=allhttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/category/section/patently-absurdhttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/category/section/editors-pagehttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/category/section/science-technologyhttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/coverstory-listing/allhttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/news_listinghttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/


2/11



Genesis of the lost bill

1993: 73rd and 74th

amendments are

introduced in the

Constitution, paving way

for decentralisation of

governance

1994: Government sets upDileep Singh Bhuria

This has created a governance crisis and paved the way for state

governments to undermine traditional rights of tribal people, says

Celestine Xaxa of SZAAA. He plans to file a review petition in the apex

court. Just a month ago, in April, the apex court dismissed a batch of

similar petitions by tribal rights activists from Jharkhand. It declared their

challenge infructuous on the ground that the Jharkhand government had

repealed the municipal Act they had challenged and introduced a new Act

in 2011. The activists now plan to challenge the new municipal Act of

Jharkhand.

In the past few years tribal rights

activists have filed 31 cases against

different urban local bodies, calling

them illegal. They have also sued

state governments for illegally

implementing the municipal Act in

scheduled areas. Their concern is

that state governments are taking

advantage of this parliamentary

lapse to give speedy clearances to

mining companies and industries in

resource-rich scheduled areas. The

Uttarakhand floods: more rainspredicted

MoEF changes stand on relocation ofDhari Devi temple for Alaknanda dam

Plan to protect the Himalaya not yet inaction

Himalayan states also face risk ofglacial lake outburst floods
http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/himalayan-states-also-face-risk-glacial-lake-outburst-floodshttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/plan-protect-himalaya-not-yet-actionhttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/moef-opposes-relocation-dhari-devi-temple-hydropower-project-alaknandahttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/uttarakhand-floods-more-rains-predictedhttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/dte/userfiles/images/20130515_22L.jpghttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/uttarakhand-floods-disaster-human-induced


3/11



Too cool forcomfort

Use this calculator to know

how much money you lose

by setting your AC

thermostat at low

temperatures

Committee for extending

the provisions of 73rd and

74th amendments to

scheduled areas

January 1995: Bhuria

Committee submits its

report. It recommends

Panchayat Extension to

Scheduled Areas (PESA) for

rural tribal areas and

Municipalities Extension to

the Scheduled Areas

(MESA) for urban tribal

areas

December 1996: PESA

Act is implemented, but not

MESA

2001: MESA Bill is

introduced in Rajya Sabha.

It is referred to

Parliamentary standing

committee for discussion

2003: Parliamentary

standing committee

submits its report

2008: Advocate Adarsh

Mani Trivedi files the first

petition against the

municipal Act to scheduled

areas in Jabalpur High

Court

2009: The court stays

municipal elections in

scheduled areas in MadhyaPradesh and asks the

municipal Act has no provision to

protect the traditional and cultural

rights of tribals over their land,

forests, minerals and other natural

resources as granted under the

Fifth Schedule of the Constitution.

As per the provisions of the Fifth

Schedule no land in scheduled

areas can be transferred to non-

tribal people and no project can be

set up without the communitys

approval.

That is not all. C R Bijoy of

Campaign for Survival and Dignity,

a non-profit in Delhi, says state

governments are upgrading the

panchayati areas within the

scheduled area into municipal areasand are taking the areas out of the

purview of PESA provisions, which

mandate village councils approval

for setting up any project. Worse,

they are doing so without providing

alternative protective provisions to

the municipal areas. This is creating

legal infirmity, Bijoy adds. As per the

1991 census, there were 167 urban

local bodies in Schedule Five areas.Their number has increased since.

Between 2007 and 2009,

Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh

upgraded 26 and eight tribal rural

areas into municipalities, and these

are the areas with major industrial

investment proposals.

Alok Pandey of PRIA, a Delhi-based

non-profit that works on localgovernance, cites another reason
http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/extreme-weather-and-climate-changehttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/too-cool-comfort-0http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/too-cool-comfort-0


4/11



FOLLOW US ON

FACEBOOK

Centre to pass a suitable

law. A higher bench of the

court cancels the

judgement

2010: MESA Bill last

enlisted for discussion in

the monsoon session in

2010. Since then, it has

not appeared in the list of

business

2013: Supreme Court

dismisses a series of

petitions challenging

extension of municipal Act

to scheduled areas

for such upgrade. Before the

general election of 2009, the

Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh

governments upgraded 79 and 100

panchayats, respectively. A major

reason behind this is to get more

Central allocations from the Ministry

of Urban Development. State

governments are not serious about

urban local bodies because 90 per

cent of them are run by ad hoc

officials, he says.

Jayant Verma of Bharat

Janandolan, a Delhi-based non-

profit, says panchayati regions are

being converted into municipalities

flouting all criteria. The criteria for

upgrading a panchayat into a nagarpanchayat is that it should have a

population of at least 10,000 and

most of its residents must be involved in certain non-farm activities. Bijoy

says there is a need to rectify this constitutional crisis at the earliest by

introducing the MESA Bill drafted for urban tribal areas.

A lost bill

The MESA Bill was prepared based on the recommendations of the Bhuria

Committee, whose report had paved the way for the PESA Act for tribalrural areas (see Genesis of the lost Bill).

Like Send 32,758 people like this. Be the

first of your friends.
http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/mining-diaries-andhra-pradeshhttps://twitter.com/@down2earthindiahttps://twitter.com/sunitanar


5/11



The Bill aims to protect the land rights

of tribals and provides for a standing

committee on tribal affairs in each

municipality. It was introduced in the

Parliament on July 30, 2001. Later, it

was referred to the Parliamentary

Standing Committee on Urban and

Rural Development, which

recommended its adoption in November

2003. Till the monsoon session of 2010,

the Bill was enlisted for discussion every

session. But no one knows what

happened to the Bill after that.

I am not aware of such a Bill, Sharad

Yadav, chairperson of the

Parliamentary Standing Committee on

Urban and Rural Development, told

Down To Earth. I shall look into MESA during upcoming monsoonsession.

When asked about the Bill, Kanaiya Lal, deputy secretary for Parliament

Coordination in Urban Development Ministry feigned ignorance, while

Sudhir Krishna, secretary of the ministry, refused to comment.

S M Vijayanand, additional secretary of Ministry of Rural Development,

said his ministry had given its suggestions on the Bill during the inter-

ministerial consultation. But that was done many years ago. It would be

difficult to comment on its status now.


6/11



Hrusikesh Panda, additional

secretary, Ministry of Panchayati

Raj, also says no one knows whether

the Bill was enacted or withdrawn.

Municipality governance is never a

priority, at least in scheduled areas,

he says, adding that his ministry had

given its suggestions on MESA

during the inter-ministerial

consultation.

A constitutional crisis

The Planning Commission has

pointed out this void in its reports

from time to time and stressed for

proper implementation of the

provisions of Fifth Schedule of the Constitution in countering Left-wing

extremism.

Dileep Singh Bhuria, who headed the Bhuria Committee, had also written

to the prime minister for urgent need of introducing MESA. He received a

letter from the urban development ministry, on the direction of the Prime

Ministers Office, assuring him that action would be taken in this regard.

But that was three years ago.

180

Like


7/11



K C Sivaramakrishnan, former

secretary of the Ministry of Urban

Development, blames the void on

the sheer apathy of the government.

Sivaramakrishnan played a key role

in bring about the 73rd and 74th

amendment of the Constitution,

which led to the decentralisation of

governance through local bodies. He

says there has to be a lot of

pressure on the government to pass

any legislation. There is no pressure

from tribal leaders to get the MESA

bill passed.

Until the Bill is enacted, says tribal

rights activist from Chhattisgarh B K

Manish, people should knock the

court doors to keep scheduled areas out of the purview of the municipalAct. Citing the dismissal of petitions by SZAAA and tribal rights activists

from Jharkhand, Manish says they were rejected because they were

poorly argued.

But in the absence of legislation, the judiciary can only provide a

temporary respite. In 2009, the High Court of Jabalpur stayed elections to

urban local bodies in scheduled areas of Madhya Pradesh, saying the

state municipal Act was not applicable to them. It also directed the Centre

to pass a suitable legislation for extending municipal bodies to scheduled

areas (see Crisis of governance, Down To Earth, December 16-31,2010). The judgement was cancelled later because the court believed

that in the absence of Central legislation, the election process should

continue, says Amitabh Singh of Debate, a non-profit in Bhopal.

The Fifth Schedule Areas were carved out to protect the traditional and

cultural rights of tribal people. But with growing urbanisation and migration

of non-tribal people to scheduled areas, the demography of scheduled

areas is changing. This is giving rise to conflict of interest between the

tribal and non-tribal people. Often laws are being manipulated in the

interest of non-tribals, says Verma. Usha Ramanathan, a law expert and

rights activist, says scheduled area has more of a geographic connotation

TweetTweet

4

1

9
http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/who-dropped-mesa#http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/who-dropped-mesa#http://twitter.com/search?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.downtoearth.org.in%2Fcontent%2Fwho-dropped-mesahttps://twitter.com/intent/tweet?original_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.downtoearth.org.in%2Fcontent%2Fwho-dropped-mesa&text=Who%20dropped%20MESA%3F%20%7C%20Down%20To%20Earth%3A&tw_p=tweetbutton&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.downtoearth.org.in%2Fcontent%2Fwho-dropped-mesa%23.UcW6jN-Cx6k.twitter


8/11



Dear Editors,

than proximity of tribal population living in these areas. Thus even if

migration occurs due to urbanisation and industrialisation, all the

procedures to protect tribal culture and life are to be followed. She calls

for implementation of MESA at the earliest. The National Advisory Council

(NAC), led by ruling United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi

acknowledged the crisis on December 31, 2012. In its draft report, the

NAC Working group on Scheduled Areas has recommended the Centre to

take steps to introduce the revised provisions of the MESA Bill at the

earliest in such a manner that the interests of schedule tribes are not

affected.

One can only hope that the MESA Bill does not get dropped from list of

business when Parliament meets in July.

More on This Story

RELATED ARTICLES

Who dropped MESA?

SC dismisses petition demanding exclusion of Sundargarh from purview of

municipal Act

Governors in the dock

Tags:Special Report, Down to earth, Governance And Institutions, India, Legislation,

Municipalities Extension to Scheduled Areas (MESA) 2001, Panchayats, Supreme Court, Tribals,Urban Habitat

AddThis

Post Comment | Print this article | Email to a fr iend
http://www.downtoearth.org.in/printmail/41200http://www.downtoearth.org.in/print/41200http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/who-dropped-mesa#comment_form_bookmarkhttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/http://www.downtoearth.org.in/taxonomy/term/6821http://www.downtoearth.org.in/taxonomy/term/7119http://www.downtoearth.org.in/taxonomy/term/13176http://www.downtoearth.org.in/taxonomy/term/13271http://www.downtoearth.org.in/category/thesaurus/municipalities-extension-scheduled-areas-mesa-2001http://www.downtoearth.org.in/category/thesaurus/legislation-0http://www.downtoearth.org.in/taxonomy/term/13708http://www.downtoearth.org.in/category/thesaurus/governance-and-institutionshttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/taxonomy/term/20436http://www.downtoearth.org.in/category/section/special-reporthttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/governors-dockhttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/sc-dismisses-petition-demanding-exclusion-tribal-district-sundargarh-purview-odisha-municipahttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/who-dropped-mesa


9/11



Thank you for your well-researched article 'Who

dropped MESA that comes as a Special Report in

the latesr issue of Down to Earth (June 15, 2013).

Apart from highlighting the fact that in the absence

of any pressure from 'Tibals' to propagate urban

governance in Scheduled areas, the article has

been able to showcase that how our

parliamentarians work. It is surprising (rather

shocking) to know that Chairperson of

Parliamentary Standing Committee on Urban

Development (Mr. Sharad Yadav) who also

happens to be the President of one of the important

political party does not aware about MESA Bill, at

all.

I would also like to add, here, that municipal

governance was not a priority for any government.

And that is why in the urnbanised states like

Maharashtra, Tamilnadu, Karnataka the casesrelated to land grabbing and mismanagement are

on a higher side. At the central level also though

the government has drafted and now implementing

plans like JNNURM, NUHM, NULM, etc. but that is

only for the corporates, contractors or for the

controllers (buruecrates). Again, the results of PPP

in most of the urban development programmes,

have been able to show that instead of people it is

government(s) and other actors (who have vested

interests) are very much interested in urbandevelopment of the country. These people also

want to prevent themselves from the Acts and Rules

that are made to protect the socio-cultural-

economic interests and rights of the native people.

Surprisingly, the National Commission for

Scheduled Tribes and State Commissions for

Scheduled tribes are also not talking about this

MESA Bill.

Alok Pandey

4 June 2013

Posted by

Alok Pandey


10/11



reply

Post new comment

Your Name: *

Anonymous

E-mail: *

The content of this f ield is kept private and will not be shown publicly.

Homepage:

Comment: *

CAPTCHA

This question is for testing w hether you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam

submissions.

Input format
http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/who-dropped-mesa#http://www.downtoearth.org.in/comment/reply/41200/13321


11/11



CS E WEBNET Follow us ON

About Us Write to Us Advertise w ith us

Save

(Comments are moderated and will be published only after the site moderators approval.

Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name. Selected comments may also be used in

the Letters section of the Down To Earth print edition.)

Home News Analysis S & T Editorial Columns Blogs Food Interviews Book Review Photo Gallery

Print Archive E-Magazine

Privacy & Terms

Type the text
http://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/http://www.downtoearth.org.in/http://magazine.downtoearth.org.in/downtoearth/30062013/Home.aspxhttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/archives/http://www.downtoearth.org.in/node/389http://www.downtoearth.org.in/book_reviews_listinghttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/Interview_listinghttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/taxonomy/term/20351http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/blog?id=allhttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/category/section/patently-absurdhttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/category/section/editors-pagehttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/category/section/science-technologyhttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/coverstory-listing/allhttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/news_listinghttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/http://www.downtoearth.org.in/rss.xmlhttp://www.youtube.com/user/downtoearthfilms#p/uhttps://plus.google.com/106293307783638713083http://www.facebook.com/down2earthindiahttp://twitter.com/@down2earthindiahttp://csestore.cse.org.in/http://www.rainwaterharvesting.org/http://www.gobartimes.org/http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/http://www.cseindia.org/http://csestore.cse.org.in/advertise.htmlhttp://www.downtoearth.org.in/node/341http://www.downtoearth.org.in/node/1095

Documents

Who Dropped MESA_ _ Down to Earth