The Panchayat (पंचायत in Devanagiri) is an Indian political system that groups five villages in a quincunx (four peripheral villages around a central one were laid out as the '5' side of a die). Each had appointed tasks and responsibilities, such as cart-making or basket-weaving. The central village, usually the largest of the Panchayat, traditionally handled food storage and meetings places for the officials, as well as their residences.

Village councils

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Panchayat also refers to a council of elected members taking decisions on issues key to a village's social, cultural and economic life: thus, a panchayat is a village's body of elected representatives. The council leader is named sarpanch (in Hindi), and each member is a panch. The panchayat acts as a conduit between the local government and the people. Decisions are taken by a majority vote (Bahumat), and are generally welcomed by the villagers. It is said that in such a system, each villager can voice his opinion in the governance of his village. The decisions are taken without lengthy legal procedures and the process remains for the large part transparent.

It evolved in ancient India and is one of the oldest democratic systems still in use today. Its roots lie in the village council which was later refined to accommodate, on occasions, a written constitution for the village (during Pandya dynasty). The Chola dynasty was one of the ancient kingdoms to realise the importance of self-governance and did a lot to give more powers at the grassroots level as witnessed by stone carvings in Tamil Nadu.

Panchayati Raj

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Mahatma Gandhi advocated Panchayati Raj, a decentralized form of Government where each village is responsible for its own actions, as the foundation of India's political system. His term for such a vision was "Gram Swaraj" (Village Self-governance). It was incorporated into the state governments during the 1950s and 60s as various legislations were passed to establish Panchayats in different states. It found a backing in the Indian Constitution which was amended in 1992 to accommodate the Panchayat Raj Institutions. However political and caste undercurrents among the voters have prevented strong adoption of this concept.

Nepalese Panchayat system

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The Panchayat system was established in Nepal in 1960 but ended following the 1990 Jana Andolan.

See also

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• Gram Panchayat
• For example of punishment meted out by panchayat, see Parading on donkey

External links

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• National Panchayat Portal run by the Indian Ministry of Panchayati Raj

Panchayats on the web:

• Assam State Panchayat Department
• Shimoga Panchayat
• Raichur Panchayat

Indian society | Government of India | Pakistani society | Government of Pakistan

Panchayat