UPSC Prelims 2012 · GS Paper I
Question 1: Polity and Governance
In the areas covered under the Panchayat (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996, what is the role/power of Gram Sabha?
- 1.Gram Sabha has the power to prevent alienation of land in the Scheduled Areas.
- 2.Gram Sabha has the ownership of minor forest produce.
- 3.Recommendation of Gram Sabha is required for granting prospecting licence or mining lease for any mineral in the Scheduled Areas.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
AnswerUPSC’s answer is (b).
PESA 1996 strengthens the Gram Sabha in Scheduled Areas. It can prevent alienation of tribal land and act to restore land that was unlawfully alienated, and the panchayats are endowed with ownership of minor forest produce. The trap is statement 3: the Gram Sabha's recommendation is mandatory only for prospecting licences and mining leases for minor minerals, not for any mineral. Remember PESA's mining role as limited to minor minerals; it gives no such mandatory say over major minerals.
- 1. PESA empowers the Gram Sabha to prevent alienation of tribal land and restore unlawfully alienated land.
- 2. PESA endows panchayats at the appropriate level with ownership of minor forest produce.
- 3. The mandatory recommendation applies to minor minerals only, not to any mineral.
How you could have got this
- If you were sure statement 2 is correct, (a) goes: it leaves 2 out.
What you needed to know: PESA endows panchayats at the appropriate level with ownership of minor forest produce.
- Then, if you were sure statement 3 is not correct, (c) and (d) go: each of them includes 3.
What you needed to know: The mandatory recommendation applies to minor minerals only, not to any mineral.
Only (b) is left. You didn’t need statement 1.
Which options go is worked out from UPSC’s key and the options, not by a model.
Why each option is right or wrong
- (a) Incomplete: ownership of minor forest produce also rests with the Gram Sabha and panchayats under PESA.
- (b) Correct: statements 1 and 2 hold; statement 3 is too broad.
- (c) Wrong: statement 2 is right, but statement 3 stretches the rule from minor minerals to any mineral.
- (d) Wrong: it includes statement 3, which overstates the Gram Sabha's role to 'any mineral'.
Answer: UPSC’s key. Explanation: written by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.
Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2012, General Studies Paper I, Series A. The paper on upsc.gov.in.