Introduction

The Maoist movement in India emerged and expanded not merely as an armed insurgency but as a response to prolonged governance failure in Fifth Schedule areas. Administrative neglect, weak service delivery, erosion of tribal self-governance, and systematic alienation from land and forests created conditions for parallel Maoist authority structures. While security operations have weakened Maoist violence, the deeper governance paradoxes of the Fifth Schedule administration remain unresolved, threatening durable peace and democratic legitimacy.

Why in the News

The article gains relevance as India enters a post-Maoist phase in several Fifth Schedule districts following sustained security operations. While insurgent violence has declined sharply since the peak of the 1990s and early 2000s, governance outcomes in these regions remain weak. Planning Commission’s Expert Group (2008) recorded that regions with abundant natural resources were reduced to “penury due to state neglect and poor governance.” Despite constitutional safeguards, tribal areas continue to face under-representation, diluted self-rule, and extractive development. The contrast between declining insurgency and persistent governance failure marks a critical inflection point in India’s internal security and federal governance trajectory.

Evolution of Maoism as a Governance Phenomenon

1. Administrative Neglect: Enabled Maoist penetration by leaving large governance vacuums in health, education, policing, and justice delivery.
2. Parallel Authority Structures: Maoists provided dispute resolution, welfare access, food rations, and swift justice through kangaroo courts.
3. Political Mobilisation: Insurgency functioned as a vehicle for tribal assertion against state institutions perceived as extractive.

Constitutional Vision of the Fifth Schedule

1. Protective Framework: Designed as a socio-political contract recognising distinct tribal histories and vulnerabilities.
2. Institutional Architecture: Tribal Advisory Councils, Governor’s special powers, and restrictions on land alienation.
3. Developmental Autonomy: Emphasised governance aligned with tribal customs, livelihoods, and cultural preservation.

Structural Failures in Fifth Schedule Governance

1. Under-Representation of Adivasis: Locals largely excluded from bureaucracy, policing, and revenue administration.
2. Administrative Alienation: Officials lacked cultural familiarity and sensitivity to tribal social structures.
3. Weak Institutional Capacity: Fifth Schedule provisions remained procedural rather than transformative.

Land, Forests, and the Crisis of Resource Governance

1. Land Alienation: Millions dispossessed despite constitutional safeguards and land acquisition laws.
2. Revenue Administration Abuse: Land acquisition and forest governance emerged as the most violated provisions.
3. Extractive Development Model: Mineral-rich regions experienced development without local benefit-sharing.

Failure of Decentralised Self-Governance Mechanisms

1. PESA Dilution: Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas Act remained poorly implemented and routinely violated.
2. Gram Sabha Marginalisation: Consent provisions ignored in mining, land acquisition, and forest diversion.
3. State Resistance: Amendments and administrative practices diluted original intent of self-rule.

Contradictions in Rights-Based Legislation

1. Forest Rights Act (FRA): Provided legal protection but faced bureaucratic resistance and weak enforcement.
2. CAF Act, 2016: Prioritised compensatory afforestation over livelihood and habitation rights.
3. Legal Dilution: Judicial and executive interventions weakened protective intent of tribal legislation.

Governance Improvements and Their Limits

1. Service Delivery Gains: Improved access to roads, telecom, welfare schemes, and digital payments.
2. Digital Governance: Cash transfers and e-governance reduced some leakages.
3. Persistent Institutional Weakness: Education, policing, health, judiciary, and revenue administration remain inadequate.

Post-Maoist Governance Challenge

1. Leadership Vacuum: Absence of credible tribal leadership in governance institutions.
2. Performance Deficit: Panchayats in Fifth Schedule areas underperform compared to Sixth Schedule autonomous councils.
3. Trust Deficit: Continued alienation risks ideological re-radicalisation despite reduced violence.

Way Forward

1. Fifth Schedule Reorientation: Ensures faithful implementation of constitutional safeguards by operationalising the Governor’s special responsibilities, strengthening Tribal Advisory Councils, and limiting routine administrative overrides.
2. PESA-Centred Decentralisation: Restores primacy of Gram Sabhas in land acquisition, mining approvals, forest governance, and welfare delivery to re-establish democratic legitimacy at the grassroots.
3. Rights-Based Resource Governance: Enforces Forest Rights Act provisions in letter and spirit, integrates livelihood security with conservation, and curbs extractive practices that marginalise tribal communities.
4. Administrative Inclusion: Expands recruitment, posting, and capacity-building of local tribal personnel in policing, revenue administration, and service delivery institutions.
5. Development-Security Convergence: Aligns security operations with civil administration through coordinated district.

Conclusion

The retreat of Maoist violence in large parts of India marks a significant security achievement, but it does not signify the resolution of the deeper governance crisis that gave rise to Left Wing Extremism. Persistent administrative under-representation of adivasis, dilution of Fifth Schedule protections, weak implementation of PESA and forest rights, and extractive resource governance continue to erode state legitimacy in these regions. Without restoring genuine tribal self-governance, strengthening local institutions, and aligning development with constitutional intent, the post-Maoist phase risks becoming a period of fragile stability rather than durable peace. Sustainable normalcy in Fifth Schedule areas ultimately depends on governance reform, not security dominance alone.

PYQ Relevance

[UPSC 2020] What are the determinants of left-wing extremism in Eastern part of India? What strategy should the Government of India, civil administration and security forces adopt to counter the threat in the affected areas? 

Linkage: This question directly falls under GS Paper III (Internal Security), particularly the syllabus areas of Left Wing Extremism (LWE), role of governance deficits in internal security, and coordinated civil-security responses. It tests the ability to link development, governance, and security, a recurring UPSC demand.

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