Ethics · 26 Jul 2026

PESA consent Niyamgiri judgment Gram Sabha

Consider the following pairs: Item - Correct Description 1. PESA Act, 1996 - Requires Gram Sabha consultation and a No Objection Certificate before land acquisition in Fifth Schedule Scheduled Areas 2. Niyamgiri judgment (2013) - Orissa Mining Corporation Ltd. v. Ministry of Environment & Forests, upholding the Gram Sabha's authority to decide on mining clearances affecting tribal rights 3. South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL) - A private multinational mining corporation unaffiliated with any central public sector undertaking 4. Surajpur clash - Arose from villagers' resistance to a survey team accompanying a police operation, in a village that had not issued an NOC for the proposed coal project How many of the above pairs are correctly matched?

AOnly one pair
BOnly two pairs
COnly three pairs
DAll four pairs

Tests precise recall of an institutional/ownership fact (SECL as a PSU subsidiary) embedded within a broader ethical and legal narrative, requiring aspirants to separate accurate legal principles from a plausible-sounding but incorrect institutional claim.

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This question is based on: Six Cops Injured in Chhattisgarh as Villagers Resist Coal-Survey Team Arriving Without Consent
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About this question

Why in news

Six police personnel were injured in Surajpur district, Chhattisgarh, when villagers resisted a pre-dawn police operation accompanied by a survey team for a proposed SECL coal mining project the Gram Sabha had not cleared with an NOC.

Why for UPSC

This tests whether aspirants correctly recall institutional ownership details (SECL's status as a Coal India/PSU subsidiary) alongside the legal and precedent facts, a combination UPSC frequently uses to test attentiveness to specific institutional facts embedded within a larger current-affairs narrative.

Prelims summary

PESA, 1996 mandates Gram Sabha consent via NOC in Fifth Schedule areas, a principle affirmed in the 2013 Niyamgiri judgment; SECL, the coal company at the centre of the Surajpur clash, is a Coal India subsidiary under the Ministry of Coal, not a private entity.

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