OUT of the 3,003 PESA mobilisers in Maharashtra, 2,002 were facing the grave threat of losing their jobs due to a slash in funding by the Central Government. PESA is the short form for the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, adopted by Parliament in 1996. To avert this crisis and ensure that all 3,003 PESA mobiliser posts (most of whom were Adivasi women) were retained, with one mobiliser for each PESA Gram Panchayat as before, the Adivasi Adhikar Rashtriya Manch (AARM) and the PESA Mobilisers' Struggle Samiti conducted a vigorous and victorious statewide agitation for over three months.

THE ISSUE

In the remote Scheduled Areas of Maharashtra, a quiet but determined army of mostly Adivasi women has been working for nearly a decade to make the promise of self-governance real. These PESA Gram Sabha mobilisers are grassroots workers appointed to strengthen the Gram Sabhas. PESA was enacted to extend the 73rd Constitutional Amendment to India’s Scheduled Areas while recognising the traditional authority of Gram Sabhas over natural resources, minor forest produce, local development plans, and the selection of beneficiaries for welfare schemes. In Maharashtra, the law applies to 13 districts with significant tribal populations, namely, Palghar, Thane, Nashik, Nandurbar, Dhule, Jalgaon, Ahilyanagar, Pune, Nanded, Amravati, Yavatmal, Chandrapur, and Gadchiroli.

The Central Government started the posts of PESA mobilisers in 2016 under the Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA). One mobiliser was assigned to each PESA Gram Panchayat. The 3,003 PESA mobilisers in Maharashtra cover 8,833 villages and earn a meagre honorarium of Rs 4,000 per month. Each village consists of numerous hamlets. Their work involves travelling, usually walking, across difficult, hilly and forest locations covering vast areas to create awareness amongst villagers regarding their rights under PESA and about government schemes, as well as help in organising Gram Sabhas and local planning.

The Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Department of the Central Government issued an order on April 1, 2026 reducing the nationwide workforce of PESA mobilisers by two thirds, due to a so-called “resource crunch”. Following this, the Maharashtra Panchayat Raj Department sent a circular to all districts drastically reducing the number of posts from 3,003 to 1,001. One PESA mobiliser would henceforth have to look after three PESA Gram Panchayats, an impossible task considering the extremely difficult tribal terrain. 2,002 tribal women would suddenly be rendered jobless. Continuing the 3,003 posts would have cost the state government annually a meagre amount of only around Rs 14 crore. Anger against this unjust decision spread across the 13 districts.

THE STRUGGLE 

The Adivasi Adhikar Rashtriya Manch (AARM) and PESA Mobilisers Sangharsh Samiti (MSS) jointly launched a sustained statewide agitation demanding reversal of this slashing of jobs. Large meetings were held in all the concerned districts to organise the mobilisers for a statewide struggle. The AARM and PESA MSS mobilised letters to the Chief Minister from 5 MPs and 16 MLAs, most of them tribals, demanding the withdrawal of the cutting of jobs.  

On May 6, 2026, more than 500 women held a day-long statewide dharna outside the Panchayat Raj Commissioner’s office in Pune. Again, on July 1, over 1,000 tribal women from 13 districts gathered at the Azad Maidan in Mumbai for an indefinite sit-in, getting fully drenched in the heavy downpour. But even the heavy rains could not dampen their spirit.

At the national level, on May 17, a delegation led by AARM senior leaders Brinda Karat, Jitendra Choudhary, Mariam Dhawale and others met the Union Tribal Development Minister Jual Oram. On May 18, a delegation of Brinda Karat and Mariam Dhawale met the Chairman of the Central ST Commission Antar Singh Arya. On July 31, CPI(M) MP John Brittas, Dr Ashok Dhawale, Mariam Dhawale, and Ajit Abhyankar met the Union Minister for Panchayati Raj Lalan Singh. In all these meetings, this issue was constantly pressed. John Brittas later even wrote a letter to the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

The state Rural Development Minister Jaykumar Gore and Tribal Development Minister Dr Ashok Uike were forced to meet the AARM and PESA MSS delegation after they threatened to stage a rasta roko. The sit-in was temporarily ended after assurances by the ministers. When the assurances were not implemented, an indefinite dharna from August 4 was announced outside the office of the Tribal Development Minister at Ralegaon in the Yavatmal district of Vidarbha.

THE VICTORY

On hearing about this dharna, the above two Ministers, the Principal Secretaries of both departments, and other concerned officials immediately held talks with the leaders of AARM and PESA MSS at Mantralaya in Mumbai on August 5. In a major breakthrough, Ministers Uike and Gore agreed and announced that the state Tribal Development Department will provide the required financial allocation and retain all the 3,003 PESA mobilisers with one mobiliser per PESA Gram Panchayat as before.  

The State Government informed the delegation that it is actively pursuing the matter with the Union Government to secure adequate funding for all 3,003 PESA mobilisers. Until these efforts succeed, all 3,003 PESA mobiliser posts in Maharashtra will continue as before, and until the Union Government takes a final decision, the State Tribal Development Department will make the necessary financial provisions to retain these posts.

Representing the AARM were Dr Ashok Dhawale, Mariam Dhawale, Dr Ajit Nawale, Vinod Nikole, MLA, Dr Amol Waghmare, Kiran Gahala, Nasir Hashmi, and representatives of the PESA Mobilisers including Pratiksha Patil, Suresh Pawar, Ravitabai Padvi, Khulanabai Tumram, Archana Pendam, Indira Bhoye, and others.

This decision is a big victory since it has safeguarded the livelihoods of 2,002 tribal women and men across the state. It is also a significant step towards the effective implementation of the PESA Act in tribal areas.

The AARM and the PESA Mobilisers' Struggle Committee have welcomed this decision. From the beginning of the movement, Sangita Salve, Usha Murkhe, Shankar Sidam, Amol Marakwar, Raj Bansod, Subhash Pandey, Chhaya Jadhav, and Sudam Thakare extended valuable support to ensure the victory of the struggle.

Thus, the three-month long continuous struggle resulted in this hard-won victory. As a result, the livelihood of 2,002 Adivasi women was saved. It has been decided to follow up on this success by organising victory meetings of PESA mobilisers in all 13 districts.