Bhuria Committee
Topic: Special Provisions, Scheduled and Tribal Areas · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Bhuria Committee (1994-95), chaired by Dilip Singh Bhuria, worked out how panchayats should operate in Scheduled Areas. The 73rd Amendment's panchayat system (Part IX) did not apply there automatically (Art. 243M). The committee proposed a model built around the gram sabha, the meeting of all voters of a village, rather than the elected panchayat. Its report led to the PESA Act 1996 (Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act). PESA applies in the ten Fifth Schedule states and gives gram sabhas power over local plans, land, minor forest produce and money-lending.
Example
Under PESA, the gram sabha must be consulted before land is acquired in a Scheduled Area, and its prior recommendation is needed before a lease is granted for minor minerals.
Don't confuse with
- Bhuria Commission (2002-04): a different body set up under Art. 339 to review how Scheduled Areas and STs were being governed. The Committee led to PESA. The Commission did not.