Ranchi, Sept. 10 -- The BJP accused the Hemant Soren government of denying constitutional rights to tribals and backward communities by stalling PESA rules and delaying civic polls, while the ruling Congress countered that the opposition party was misleading people after failing to act on the same issues during its own tenure.
Addressing the media at the state BJP office, former chief minister, Raghubar Das alleged that the government had deliberately withheld the notification of PESA - The Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act of 1996 - despite the process reaching the Cabinet stage. He said PESA would empower gram sabhas in scheduled areas to manage minor minerals, sand and stone quarrying, fisheries and forest produce.
Accordin...