In terms of Item no. 18 of State list of Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India, ‘land’ is a State subject. Further, Section 4 of the Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act,1996 [PESA] provides that the Gram Sabha or the Panchayats at the appropriate level shall be consulted before making the acquisition of land in the Scheduled Areas for development projects. It also provides that the actual planning and implementation of the projects in the Scheduled Areas shall be coordinated at the State level. Also, in terms of PESA, State Legislatures have been empowered to frame all laws concerning the extension of the provisions of Part IX of the Constitution relating to the Panchayats in Fifth Scheduled Areas. As such, the subject being in the purview of State Governments, these details are not maintained centrally.
This information was given by Union Minister of State for Panchayati Raj Shri Kapil Moreshwar Patil in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
****