Kejriwal promises PESA Act for tribal areas in Gujarat

Vadodara: Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday promised implementation of the Constitution's Fifth Schedule and the Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act in tribal regions of Gujarat if the AAP is voted to power in the state.

Kejriwal also promised that Gujarat's tribal advisory committee would be headed by a person from the community instead of the chief minister, as has been the case in the state. He claimed the Gujarat Assembly elections, due later this year, will be a direct contest between the ruling BJP and the AAP.

Talking to reporters in Vadodara before addressing a rally in tribal-dominated Chhota Udepur district, Kejriwal also said that if AAP comes to power in Gujarat, each tribal village will get a good government school and a "mohalla clinic".

Multi-speciality hospitals will also be set up in the region for free treatment of tribals, the Delhi chief minister said.

He also promised simplification of the caste certificate issuance process and houses to those who do not own one.

"The government will also connect tribal villages with roads," he said. The Fifth Schedule of the Constitution deals with provisions related to the administration and control of scheduled areas and scheduled tribes.

The PESA Act was enacted by Parliament in 1996 to ensure self- governance for people living in scheduled areas. The states were required to formulate rules for the effective implementation of the Act to strengthen gram sabhas in scheduled areas.

Kejriwal said despite 75 years of independence, tribals have remained backward.

"They are remembered before elections and have only been exploited by all. The Constitution provides for a separate system for tribals because the community has a different culture and is very backward," he said.

No government is ready to implement provisions made for them in the Indian Constitution because they are always eager to usurp their natural resources, Kejriwal claimed on the second day of his two-day visit to Gujarat.

"We will implement provisions of the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution word to word. We will also strictly implement the PESA Act which says no government can take action in a tribal area without the gram sabha's consent," he said.

"There is a tribal advisory committee. Its work is to oversee the development of tribal regions, how to utilise funds. The law says the tribal advisory committee chairman will be a tribal. In Gujarat, the chief minister heads the committee. This will be stopped," he said.

Kejriwal said tribals will also be provided employment and free electricity which he has guaranteed for everyone in Gujarat.

He claimed the forthcoming Gujarat Assembly election will be a direct contest between the BJP and AAP. "So many Congress leaders have joined the BJP, many more will flock the saffron party, and the remaining will join the BJP after the election. It is more or less a merger of the Gujarat Congress into the Gujarat BJP," he further claimed.

"The ILU (I love you) politics between the two parties has come to an end. Now it will be politics of people, which is what the AAP does," he said.

Kejriwal said while on one hand is the BJP's "misgovernance" of 27 years (in the state), corruption and incidents of spurious liquor, on the other hand is a "new politics (of AAP) with new faces and new hope". "I guarantee you that we will make the future of your children. But if you vote them to power, they will offer you spurious liquor," he said. "Because they (BJP) are worried (of the outcome) in Gujarat, they harass us (AAP leaders) in Delhi," he alleged.

Asked about the AAP's chief ministerial face in Gujarat, Kejriwal said every person is his party's CM face.