Institutional Reforms for Decentralized Governance and the Politics of Control and Management of Local Natural Resources: A Study in the Scheduled Areas of India

Abstract

"The present paper thus attempts to study the politics of control and management of local natural resources within the institutional framework for decentralized governance and the rights and role accorded to people in the process. It tries to do so by examining and analyzing the constitutional provisions, policy legislations and their practices followed over the last half a century and more. The paper is divided into five sections. Having outlined the broad issues and the objectives of the study in the introductory section, the second section discusses the evolution and administration of scheduled areas and the system of its governance. The third section spells out the institutional reforms for decentralized governance (PRIs) and the control and management of local natural resources with a specific focus on the Extension of Panchayats to Scheduled Areas Act 1996. The fourth section deals with the emergence of the institution of village republics in the tribal areas. Taking up the Kucheipadar village in Rayagada district of Orissa as a case, it analyzes the forces and factors that compelled the tribals to take control over their local natural resources by declaring themselves as republics, the system of their governance, and the use and management practices of natural resources like land, water and forest. The concluding section highlights the important lessons to be drawn from this tiny village republic for designing responsive laws and effective management practices for the protection and management of scarce natural resources for the sustainable development of local tribal communities."