JAMSHEDPUR (India): Members of the Jharkhand Asmita Bachao Morcha staged a protest at the district commissioner’s office earlier this week against the renewal process of a land lease involving Tata Steel, accusing state authorities of ignoring statutory protections for tribal communities and bypassing local consent mechanisms. Protesters said the lease renewal was being advanced without meaningful consultation with gram sabhas in Scheduled Areas, in violation of existing legal safeguards.
The group demanded full implementation of the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996, which grants decision-making authority to village councils in tribal regions over land and natural resources. Demonstrators alleged that tribal legislators and ministers had failed to defend community interests and were complicit in weakening protections meant to prevent alienation of tribal land.
Leaders of the protest warned of intensified agitation if the government continued with the lease renewal without transparent discussions and legally mandated approvals. They said land, forest and livelihood rights of indigenous residents were at risk if large corporate leases were extended without accountability.
The dispute is rooted in long-standing tensions over land governance in Jharkhand, where significant tribal populations live in Fifth Schedule areas of the Constitution. Although the PESA law was enacted nearly three decades ago to strengthen self-rule and protect customary rights, its implementation in the state has remained limited. Tribal organizations have repeatedly accused successive governments of prioritizing industrial and commercial interests over constitutional obligations to indigenous communities.
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