Panchayat Samiti (Block)

Mandal Or Taluka Panchayats are Panchayats at Intermediate Level in Panchayat Raj Institutions (or PRIs).

The 73rd Amendment is about Rural Local Governments (which are also known as Panchayati Raj Institutions or PRIs)

These Panchayats are also known as Block Panchayats or Panchayat Samiti.

It is a Rural Local Government body at the tahsil (taluka) level in India. It works for the villages of the tahsil that together are called a Development Block. The Panchayat Samiti is the link between the Gram Panchayat (village council) and the zila parishad (district board). There are a number of variations in the name of this institution in the various states. For example, it is known as Mandal Praja Parishad in Andhra Pradesh, Taluka Panchayat in Gujarat, and Mandal Panchayat in Karnataka.

Composition

Typically, a panchayat samiti is composed of elected members of the area, and the Block Development Officer, otherwise unrepresented members (representatives of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and women), associate members (such as a farmer of the area, a representative of the cooperative societies, and one from the agricultural marketing services sector), and the elected members of that panchayat block (tehsil) on the zila parishad (district board).