Explanation:

Recently, a National Conference was organized to commemorate the 25th year of enactment of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act or PESA Act, 1996. • Article 243M exempts the Fifth Schedule areas from Part IX (Provision of Panchayati Raj) of the Constitution but the Parliament is empowered to extend its provisions to the Scheduled and Tribal Areas by law without it being considered as an amendment to the Constitution. • Based on the recommendations of the Dileep Singh Bhuria Committee, PESA Act was enacted in 1996 for tribal empowerment and to bring them into the mainstream. • PESA Act is called a ‘Constitution within the Constitution’ as it extends the Part IX of the Constitution to the Fifth Schedule areas of 10 States under clause (1) of the Article 244 with certain modifications and exceptions. Hence, statement 1 is not correct. o Most of the North eastern states under Sixth Schedule Areas (where autonomous councils exist) are not covered by PESA, as these states have their own Autonomous councils for governance. o The 10 states: Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan and Telangana. • Promoting institutions of Local Self Governance and participatory democracy, all the State Panchayati Raj Acts for Fifth Schedule areas have the following salient features: o All State Legislation on Panchayats shall be in conformity with the customary law, social and religious practices and traditional management practices of community resources. Hence, statement 2 is correct. o Every village has a separate Gram Sabha consisting of persons whose names are included in the electoral rolls for the Panchayat at the village level. o Every Gram Sabha to safeguard and preserve the traditions and customs of people, their cultural identity, community resources, and the customary mode of dispute resolution. Hence, statement 3 is not correct. o Every panchayat to have a reservation of seats in proportion to the community population (minimum of 50%) with the Chairperson of Panchayats at all levels to be reserved for STs. o Roles and Responsibilities of Gram Sabhas: To approve all development works in the village, identify beneficiaries and issue certificates of utilization of funds.