What are the two major legal initiatives by the State since Independence addressing discrimination against Scheduled Tribes (STs)?
Question source: superkalam.com
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Vedanta seeks a return to Niyamgiri, 13 years after gram sabhas said no · 27 September 2026 · Answers it directly · use it in the body
Use it to name PESA and the Forest Rights Act as the two major legal initiatives empowering Scheduled Tribes, illustrated by their decisive use at Niyamgiri.
- PESA, 1996 extends Part IX of the Constitution to Fifth Schedule areas and empowers gram sabhas there to safeguard traditions, community resources and customary dispute resolution.
- The Forest Rights Act, 2006 makes the Gram Sabha the authority to initiate determination of individual and community forest rights, including over sacred sites.
- Application: in the 2013 Niyamgiri judgment the Supreme Court left the mining decision to gram sabhas, and all 12 said no; Samatha (1997) had earlier barred leasing Scheduled Area land to non-tribal private miners.
Tribal Affairs Ministry says Forest Rights Act has no provision for gram sabha consent · 7 September 2026 · Covers one part · use it in the body
Present the Forest Rights Act, 2006 as one major legal initiative, and use the consent debate to show how its protections work in practice.
- Under Section 6 of the FRA, the gram sabha is the authority to initiate recognition of individual and community forest rights; Section 4(5) bars eviction until recognition is complete.
- In the Niyamgiri case (18 April 2013) the Supreme Court left it to gram sabhas to decide whether bauxite mining affected their rights, and they rejected it.
- The Ministry of Tribal Affairs now says the FRA has no provision for gram sabha consent for Stage-II forest clearance, which critics fear lets rights be extinguished before they are recorded.
Editorial: The push to dilute gram sabha consent for forest diversion · 9 September 2026 · Covers one part · use it in the body
The FRA's gram sabha powers show a major legal initiative for STs, and the current moves to dilute consent show how its protections can be weakened.
- Section 5 of the FRA, 2006 empowers gram sabhas to protect forest and community resources, and Section 6 makes the gram sabha the authority that starts recognition of forest rights.
- PESA, 1996 and the Fifth Schedule add protections; in the 2013 Niyamgiri judgment the Supreme Court left the decision on bauxite mining to the gram sabhas.
- MoTA now says the FRA has no provision for gram sabha consent for Stage-II clearance, and the 2022 Forest (Conservation) Rules dropped consent before Stage-I, which the NCST called violative.