Panchayat samiti or Block Panchayat is a rural local government (panchayat) body at the intermediate tehsil (taluka/mandal) or block level in India. It works for the villages of the tehsil that together are called a development block. It has been said to be the "panchayat of panchayats". The panchayat samiti is the link between the gram panchayat (village council) and the zila parishad (district board).


The term of each Panchayat Samiti is five years in all States. In its very first meeting, each Panchayat Samiti elects two of its members as Chairperson and vice-chairperson. Chairpersonships of at least 1/3rd Panchayat Samities stand reserved for women members. Likewise, some of the offices of Chairperson are reserved for members belonging to Scheduled Castes. The tenure of the Chairperson is coterminous with the tenure of the Panchayat Samiti. The members of a Panchayat Samiti can remove the Chairperson by passing a resolution supported by the 2/3rd majority. A Panchayat Samiti usually meets at least six times in one year. There cannot be a gap of more than two months between its two meetings. A meeting of Panchayat Samiti is either ordinary or special. The date of every meeting is fixed by the Chairperson of the Panchayat Samiti and in his/her absence by the Vice-Chairperson. Its chief administrative officer is Block Development Officer popularly known as BDO.


Departments: The most common departments found in a panchayat samiti are:

  1. Administration
  2. Finance
  3. Public Works (especially water and roads)
  4. Agriculture
  5. Health
  6. Education Teacher List
  7. Social Welfare
  8. Information Technology
  9. Women & Child Development
  10. Panchayat Raj (mandal praja parishad)

Each department in a panchayat samiti has its own officer. Most often these are state government employees acting as extension officers, but occasionally in more revenue-rich panchayat samiti, they may be local employees. A government-appointed Block Development Officer (BDO) is the supervisor of the extension officers and Executive Officer to the panchayat samiti and becomes, in effect, its administrative chief.


Functions: The panchayat samiti collects all the prospective plans prepared at Gram Panchayat level and process them for funding and implementation by evaluating them from the angles of financial constraints, social welfare, and area development. It also identifies and prioritizes the issues that should be addressed at the block level.


Sources of income: The income of the panchayat samiti comes from:

  1. Land and water use taxes, professional taxes, liquor taxes and others
  2. Income-generating programmes
  3. Grants-in-aid and loans from the state government and the local zila parishad
  4. Voluntary contributions

For many panchayat samiti, the main source of income is state aid. For others, the traditional taxing function provides the bulk of revenues. Tax revenues are often shared between the gram panchayats and the panchayat samiti.