UPSC Mains 2013 GS Paper 3 Q24: model answer
Article 244 of the Indian Constitution relates to administration of scheduled areas and tribal areas. Analyse the impact of non-implementation of the provisions of the Fifth schedule on the growth of Left Wing extremism.
What the question wants
Analyse how failing to implement the Fifth Schedule's tribal protections helped Left Wing Extremism grow.
How to structure it
Provision, failure, consequence.
- Article 244 and Fifth Schedule features
- Gaps in implementation
- How they fed LWE
- Remedy
How to think it through
Fifth Schedule: Governor's powers to modify laws, regulate land transfer, moneylending; Tribes Advisory Council; Governor's annual report. Non-implementation: Governors passive, TACs dormant, land alienation, mining leases (Samatha 1997), PESA 1996 diluted by states, FRA delayed, displacement without rehab. Result: alienation, Maoists posed as protectors of jal-jangal-zameen; Dandakaranya. Bandopadhyay Committee 2008 (Planning Commission expert group). Niyamgiri 2013.
Model answer
The Planning Commission's expert group of 2008, led by D. Bandyopadhyay, wrote that the Maoist movement had grown in the very areas where the Constitution had promised tribals the most protection. That promise sits in Article 244 and the Fifth Schedule.
What the Fifth Schedule promises
- The Governor can stop or modify any law in a Scheduled Area and make regulations on land transfer and moneylending.
- A Tribes Advisory Council must advise on tribal welfare.
- The Governor sends an annual report to the President.
- PESA, 1996 later gave gram sabhas control over minor forest produce, land acquisition and local resources.
How non-implementation fed extremism
- Governors rarely used their powers; TACs met seldom.
- Land alienation to moneylenders and outsiders continued.
- Mining and dams displaced tribals without fair rehabilitation; the Supreme Court in Samatha (1997) had to step in.
- States diluted PESA rules, so gram sabhas stayed powerless.
- Forest rights stayed unrecognised until the FRA, 2006, and even then claims were rejected widely.
- Into this gap, Maoists posed as defenders of 'jal, jangal, zameen'.
The remedy
- Active Governors and regular reports.
- PESA rules in letter and spirit, as the Niyamgiri gram sabhas showed in 2013.
- Settle forest rights and enforce land-transfer bans, with fair compensation and a share in mining royalty through District Mineral Foundations.
Where the Constitution was absent, the Maoist filled the vacuum.
Draw: A chain: constitutional promise → non-implementation → alienation → Maoist entry.
Keywords, cases and data to drop in
Article 244(1), Fifth Schedule, Governor's regulations, Tribes Advisory Council, PESA 1996, Samatha 1997, FRA 2006, Bandyopadhyay Committee 2008, Niyamgiri 2013, land alienation, jal-jangalzameen.
Where most answers lose marks
- Describing the Fifth Schedule only, without linking each failure to the growth of LWE.
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Question text as printed in the official UPSC Civil Services (Main) question paper. The model answer is original Battle IAS work; use it to learn structure, not to memorise.
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