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According to a _report_ by the state government, the 2014 notification should make it possible for PESA villages to become self-sufficient. However, all these rights are yet to come into

force, say villagers in Palghar district. Seven years ago, the villagers of Banachiwadi Pada – a hamlet with a population of 108, in Gomghar gram panchayat of Palghar’s Mokhada taluka —

submitted a proposal to form an individual PESA village to the gram panchayat. They did not receive a response. Later, when non-governmental organisations (NGOs) started visiting the hamlets

in Palghar, the villagers learnt they could self-declare Banachiwadi Pada a PESA village, and did so in October 2021. However, Banachiwadi Pada is yet to receive either government

notification of its status or PESA funds. “We organised a gram sabha and decided on the fund allocation of works on preserving our natural resources and submitted our proposal to the gram

panchayat,” said Namdev Ganpat Patare, 35, who is the PESA committee president in Banachiwadi Pada and a farmer by profession. “It’s almost been four months since the gram panchayat hasn’t

given approval to us. The panchayat also refuses to give us our share of the PESA fund that they have been receiving since 2014. We don’t know where our part of the fund is spent because the

panchayat has never done any work in our hamlet. They say until we receive government notification and show them the notification, they won’t give us anything,” said Patare. Banachiwadi

Pada has plans for its PESA funds. “Our forest has an abundance of Ayurvedic medicinal herbs that cure fever, allergy, cold, gastritis, pain and even fractured limbs. These resources are

being exploited for years. We want to safeguard our forest under this act. We will also construct concrete roads for our village,” said Patare. He said the village also faced shortage of

drinking water, for which they wanted PESA funds. Bedukpada, another hamlet in Mokhada taluka, has a population of 311. It comes under Koshimshet revenue village and Koshimshet comes under

Dhamanashet gram panchayat. In 2019, after NGOs like Aroehan and Vayam Movement made the villagers aware of their entitlements under PESA, Bedukpada submitted an application to the

sub-divisional office in Mokhada. When they didn’t receive a response in six months, the villagers self-declared Bedukpada a PESA village. “As per rules, the timeframe is 135 days and if

there is no objection from the collector, the village can self-declare as PESA village,” said Amit Narkar, chief executive officer of Aroehan. “Since no government notification has been

issued till date, we are yet to receive the PESA fund. The government officials in the sub-divisional office say that our part of the fund has been going to Dhamanashet gram panchayat for

many years, but the gram panchayat isn’t ready to release our fund till they see government notification. We are caught in a tangle and we do not know how to come out of it,” said Ramesh

Madhukupane, 32, who is a farmer from Bedukpada. _The Economic Survey of Maharashtra 2018-19_ said an outlay of Rs 8,969.05 crore was provided under tribal component schemes (TCS) for

2018-19. Of this, Rs 3,208.20 crore are for district-level schemes and Rs 5,760.85 crore are for state-level schemes (including Rs 267.88 crore for PESA gram panchayat). In 2018-19, under

TCS, about 360 schemes (116 state level; 192 district level; and 52 Centre-sponsored schemes) were implemented. The next year’s _Economic Survey of Maharashtra _said that under TCS, proposed

funds amounted to Rs 8,531 crore. Of this, Rs 2,201.11 crore was earmarked for district level schemes and Rs 6,329.89 crore for state level schemes (including Rs 267.88 crore for PESA gram

panchayat). The report said that about 346 schemes (129 state level; 172 district level; and 45 Centre-sponsored schemes) were implemented under TCS in 2019-202. In 2018-19, an expenditure

of Rs 267.88 crore was incurred and a budget provision of Rs 267.88 crore was made in 2019-20. Till December 2020, an expenditure of Rs 160.73 crore was incurred, according to the survey. In

2020-21, direct funding was provided to 3,050 gram panchayats in Maharashtra, according to the_ Economic Survey of Maharashta_. An expenditure of Rs 160.73 crore was incurred and a budget

provision of Rs 267.89 crore was made in 2020-21 and till December, Rs 66.97 crore had been incurred as expense.