Panchayat samiti

Not to be confused with Gram panchayat or Nagar panchayat.

Republic of India
This article is part of the series: Politics and government of India
Union Government Constitution of India Fundamental rights Executive: President Vice President Prime Minister Cabinet of India Parliament: Rajya Sabha Lok Sabha The Chairman The Speaker Judiciary: Supreme Court of India Chief Justice of India High Courts District Courts
Elections Election Commission: Chief Election Commissioner
Political parties National parties State parties National coalitions: Left Front National Democratic Alliance (NDA) United Progressive Alliance (UPA)
Local and state govt. Governor Vidhan Sabha Vidhan Parishad Panchayat Gram panchayat Panchayat samiti Zilla Parishad
Other countries Atlas Government of India portal

Panchayat samiti (Hindi: पंचायत समिति) is a local government body at the tehsil or Taluka level in India. It works for the villages of the Tehsil or Taluka that together are called a Development Block. The Panchayat Samiti is the link between the Gram Panchayat and zila parishad. There are a number of variations of this institution in various states. It is known as Mandal Praja Parishad in Andhra Pradesh, Taluka panchayat in Gujarat, Mandal Panchayat in Karnataka, etc.

Constitution

It is composed of ex-officio members (all sarpanchas of the panchayat samiti area, the MPs and MLAs of the area, and the SDO of the subdivision), co-opted members (representatives of SC/ST and women), associate members (a farmer of the area, a representative of the cooperative societies, and one of the marketing services), and some elected members.

The samiti is elected for five years and is headed by the chairman and the deputy chairman.. Constitution and composition of mandal parishads

A Mandal Parishad is constituted for a revenue Mandal, as such, both the Mandal Parishads and the revenue Mandals are coterminous. A mandal Parishad is composed of the following members:

Mandal Parishad Territorial constituency members. Members of the Legislative Assembly having jurisdiction over the Mandal. Members of the House of people having jurisdiction over the Mandal. Members of the council of States who are voters in the Mandal. One co-opted member, belonging to minorities. The Mandal Parishad Territorial constituency (MPTC) members are directly elected by the voters, whereas, the Mandal President is elected by the MPTC members. The members are elected for a term of five year. The elections to MPTC s is done on political party basis. The elections are conducted by the State election commission.

The Sarpanches of the Villages in the Mandal are permanent invitees to the Mandal Parishad meetings.

Departments

The common departments in the Samiti are:

1. General administration
2. Finance
3. Public works
4. Agriculture
5. Health
6. Education
7. Social welfare
8. Information Technology

There is an officer for every department. A government appointed block development officer is the executive officer to the samiti and the chief of its administration.

Functions

1. Implement schemes for the development of agriculture.
2. Establishment of Primary Health Centres and primary schools.
3. Supply of drinking water, drainage, construction/repair of roads.
4. Development of cottage and small-scale industries and opening of cooperative societies.
5. Establishment of youth organisations.

Sources of income

The main source of income of the panchayat samiti are grants-in-aid and loans from the State Government.

Sources of income The income of the block samiti comes from two sources .firstly , by levying taxes on water , land etc . Secondly , by getting grants from the statue level