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. च् + छ = च्छ Devanagari in Unicode The Unicode range for Devanagari is U+0900 . ... A political system is a social system of politics and government. ... A village is a human settlement commonly found in rural areas. ... A quincunx is the arrangement of five units in the pattern corresponding to the five-spot on dice, playing cards, or dominoes. ...

Village councils

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. A council is a group of people who usually possess some powers of governance. ... // Latin root meaning The term social is derived from the Latin word socius, which as a noun means an associate, ally, companion, business partner or comrade and in the adjectival form socialis refers to a bond between people (such as marriage) or to their collective or connected existence. ... The word culture comes from the Latin root colere (to inhabit, to cultivate, or to honor). ... Economics (deriving from the Greek words οίκω [okos], house, and νέμω [nemo], rules hence household management) is the social science that studies the allocation of scarce resources to satisfy unlimited wants. ... A legislature is a governmental deliberative body with the power to adopt laws. ... Majoritarianism (often also called majority rule) is a political philosophy or agenda which asserts that a majority (sometimes categorized by religion, language or some other identifying factor) of the population is entitled to a certain degree of primacy in society, and has the right to make decisions that affect the...

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. Democracy is a form of government under which the power to alter the laws and structures of government lies, ultimately, with the citizenry. ... Self-governance is an abstract concept that refers to several scales of organization. ... Tamil Nadu (தமிழ் நாடு, Land of the Tamils) is a state at the southern tip of India. ...

Panchayati Raj

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. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (Devanagari/Hindi: मोहनदास करमचन्द गांधी; Gujarati: મોહનદાસ કરમચંદ ગાંધી; October 2, 1869 – January 30, 1948) was the spiritual and political leader of India who led the struggle for Indian independence from the British Empire, empowered by tens of millions of Indians. ... Panchayat Raj is a system of governance in which gram panchayats are the basic units of administration. ... // Events and trends This map shows two essential global spheres during the Cold War in 1959. ... The Constitution of India, the worlds lengthiest written constitution (with 395 articles and 8 schedules) was passed by the Constituent Assembly on November 26, 1949. ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ...

See also

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

Gram Panchayats are local government bodies in India. ... Parading on donkey is a punishment in rural areas of India. ...

External links

• Indian site on Panchayat

Panchayats on the web:

• Assam State Panchayat Department
• Shimoga Panchayat
• Raichur Panchayat