This year, the Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj is organising a two-day PESA Mahotsav in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, on 23–24 December 2025. The event marks the passage of the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (PESA), enacted by Parliament on 24 December 1996 to establish self-governance in Fifth Schedule areas. Scheduled Areas are those notified by the President of India under Article 244(1) read with the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution, which provides for a distinct framework of governance recognising the autonomy of tribal regions.
At present, Fifth Schedule areas exist in ten states: Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan and Telangana. The PESA Act, 1996 empowers Gram Sabhas—the village assemblies—as the foundation of self-rule in these areas. Among the many powers devolved to them is the authority to take decisions on local matters, including the regulation, restriction or prohibition of the sale and consumption of intoxicants.
In several tribal-dominated regions, this provision has become a powerful social tool. In Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district, for instance, women used PESA to confront the devastation caused by alcohol—domestic violence, indebtedness and social breakdown—by mobilising Gram Sabhas to pass resolutions imposing prohibition. Similar initiatives have emerged across Madhya Pradesh, where Gram Sabhas have adopted resolutions against liquor sales and opposed illegal outlets. These actions have reduced alcohol availability, brought down domestic violence and debt, and enhanced the social role of women and elders. They demonstrate that the Gram Sabha is not merely a forum for development planning, but also a platform for social reform.
The legal basis for this authority is explicit. Clause 4(d)(i) of the PESA Act, 1996 empowers Panchayats and Gram Sabhas to enforce, regulate or prohibit the sale and consumption of intoxicants. The Madhya Pradesh PESA Rules, 2022, reinforce this mandate. Chapter 7, Section 23(1)(k) states that when the state government issues prohibitory orders regarding intoxicants in Scheduled Areas, the Gram Sabha shall take necessary steps to implement them within its jurisdiction. The same provision allows the Gram Sabha to reduce the permissible limits of personal possession of intoxicants as prescribed under Section 16 of the Madhya Pradesh Excise Act, 1915.
This framework stands in stark contrast to the colonial excise system, under which liquor was regulated through licences, taxes and contractor-based arrangements, while traditional production was criminalised. PESA seeks to reverse that logic by restoring community control.
Mandla district in Madhya Pradesh, a predominantly tribal region where PESA is applicable, offers a telling example. Here, Gram Sabhas have exercised their statutory authority to pass resolutions against liquor contracts and demanded their enforcement by the administration. Women-led prohibition campaigns have met with significant success in several villages, leading to a complete halt in the sale and consumption of alcohol. While this success is not uniform across the district and the struggle for wider implementation continues, the transformation at the village level is unmistakable.
In villages such as Mahuatola in Satpahri Gram Panchayat (Niwas block), women’s initiatives have reshaped everyday life. These villages have been declared liquor-free, with strict penalties for selling or consuming alcohol. As a result, incidents of domestic conflict, disputes and violence against women have declined sharply. In Sakri and Khairi Raiyat villages of Kauadongri Gram Panchayat in Mohgaon block, villagers have unanimously decided to impose heavy fines—up to ₹25,000—on those found brewing or consuming alcohol.
This year alone, a notable initiative has emerged from Ghughri tehsil. A total of 84 Gram Panchayats—38 in Mohgaon Janpad Panchayat and 46 in Ghughri Janpad Panchayat—have unanimously passed resolutions enforcing prohibition. Panchayat representatives argue that alcohol consumption and sale are eroding social life and placing the future of youth and children at risk.
Women have also taken their struggle beyond the village, regularly attending public hearings at the district headquarters to demand action against illegal liquor traders. Recently, a large group of women from Bhapasa village reached the collectorate during a Tuesday public hearing, submitting a memorandum against the growing illegal sale of liquor and cannabis. They described how illicit brewing and sales had worsened the village atmosphere, leading to frequent quarrels, violence and abuse in streets and neighbourhoods. Following sustained complaints, excise teams and the police took action, shutting down several illegal outlets.
These developments must also be understood in their cultural context. In Mandla’s tribal society—particularly among Gond and Baiga communities—mahua has traditionally been part of rituals, festivals and community gatherings. In most Adivasi societies, alcohol was never a means of escapism or addiction, but an element of ritual and collective life. Mahua liquor is offered to deities, linked to ancestral memory and symbolising a relationship with nature. Among Gond, Baiga, Bhil and Korku communities, limited consumption accompanies birth, marriage, harvest and death rituals. The cultural meaning of PESA-based prohibition lies precisely here: it is not a rejection of culture, but its protection.
The women-led movement articulates this distinction succinctly: “Mahua is our tradition; the liquor contract is our destruction.” This form of prohibition regulates quantity and context of consumption without erasing cultural identity. It marks a historic shift in domestic power relations, where law does not descend from outside but emerges from within society.
Mandla’s experience also poses a challenge to the state’s excise revenue model. The excise department operates primarily through revenue laws and often treats PESA as merely consultative. Decisions of Gram Sabhas are frequently dismissed as “social appeals” rather than binding resolutions. Yet Mandla’s prohibition is not just a policy choice; it is a larger discourse. It argues that if intoxication is tearing society apart, the Gram Sabha must have the authority to decide what should survive and what should not.
Mandla demonstrates that when rights, trust and collective consciousness converge, PESA ceases to be just a law and becomes a living social culture. If Gram Sabhas are given genuine authority and confidence, PESA can move beyond paper and take root on the ground—well before the discussions begin in Visakhapatnam.
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*Bargi Dam Displaced and Affected Union
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