The Government enacted the Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act in 1996. Which one of the following is not identified as its objective?

The correct answer is C. PESA extends the Panchayat framework of Part IX of the Constitution to Scheduled Areas with modifications suited to tribal society. Its stated objectives are to provide self-governance through the Gram Sabha, recognise traditional rights over land, forests and minor forest produce, and protect tribal people from exploitation and social injustice. Creating autonomous regions is not among them. That idea belongs to the Sixth Schedule, which sets up Autonomous District and Regional Councils in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram with law-making and judicial powers. PESA works through existing Panchayats, not separate autonomous units.

Why the others are right: A is the core of PESA, giving Gram Sabhas and Panchayats real powers at the village level. B is reflected in the recognition of customary rights, which the Forest Rights Act, 2006 later reinforced. D matches the Act's aim of protecting tribals from money-lenders, middlemen and land alienation.

The core concept is the difference between decentralised self-rule within the constitutional framework and autonomy granted through a special Schedule. For Mains GS-II, PESA is a good case study of Fifth versus Sixth Schedule governance and of the gap between law and implementation in states.

Trap: Aspirants confuse PESA with the Sixth Schedule because both deal with tribal self-rule. Remember that PESA strengthens Panchayats; it does not create autonomous regions.