The state of India’s Scheduled Areas How are such areas identified and governed? What did the Bhuria committee in 1995 recommend? How have the provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, or PESA, in 1996 changed governance of Scheduled Areas? Scheduled Area States under 5th scheduled: Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat. Tribal Area States under 6th scheduled: Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizorum Background of the article: India’s 705 Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities — making up 8.6% of the country’s population — live in 26 States and six Union Territories. Article 244, pertaining to the administration of Scheduled and Tribal Areas, is the single most important constitutional provision for STs. Article 244(1) provides for the application of Fifth Schedule provisions to Scheduled Areas notified in any State other than Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Mizoram. The Sixth Schedu