GRAM SABHA
: The gram sabha (village assembly) lies at the base of the structure in both acts. It meets at least twice annually to review development programmes and select beneficiaries.

MANDAL PANCHAYAT
: Under the 1983 act, this primary, elected tier was located between the village and taluka and covered a population of 8,000-12,000. There was one member for every 400 people. Elections to this body were held on a party basis and it was headed by the mandal pradhan, who was elected by the members. It was empowered to levy traditional taxes and was entrusted with civic and development duties. Its finances were limited.

In the new act, the mandal panchayat was replaced by the gram panchayat, a village-level institution catering to a population of 5,000-7,000, with one member for every 400 persons. Elections held on a non-party basis. This body is headed by the adhyaksha (president) and upadhyaksha (vice president), who are elected by the members. Its work was to promote economic and social welfare, education and health, among other things. The state granted each panchayat Rs 1 lakh per annum. They would also get 80 per cent of the Jawahar Rozgar Yojana funds allotted to the state.

TALUKA PANCHAYAT SAMITI
: In 1983, this was an advisory and coordinating body at taluka level, with no executive functions. It coordinated and supervised the activities of mandals.

The new act made the taluka panchayat samiti into the taluka panchayat, an elected body empowered to consolidate annual plans of gram panchayats, promote agriculture and assist the government and zillah parishad in soil conservation and minor irrigation. It has one member for every 10,000 people. Besides, MPs, MLAs and MLCs are members with voting rights. An elected adhyaksha "convenes and presides over meetings and exercises supervision and control over the executive officer for the limited purpose of securing implementation of decisions of the panchayat."

ZILLAH PARISHAD
: The most powerful of the panchayati raj institutions, this was a district-level body headed by an adhyaksha and an upadhyaksha, elected by members, with the rank of minister and deputy minister, respectively. There was one member for every 28,000 people (except in Kodagu, where it was 1 for 12,000). The chairperson of the district central cooperative bank was an associate member without voting rights and MPs, MLAs and MLCs were ex-officio members with voting rights. The adhyaksha was the executive head, with powers over the chief secretary and all officers and servants. Twenty-five per cent of the seats were reserved for women and 18 per cent for SC/ST. Responsibilities included formulating district plan, framing and approving mandal panchayat budgets and setting up standing committees. Not empowered to levy cess or tax. Funds were allocated from the state plan and non-plan expenditure, and from the Union government.

In 1993, the zillah parishad was retained as the zillah panchayat, but with substantially reduced powers. There is one member for every 40,000 people and apart from the elected members, MPs, MLAs and MLCs are members with voting rights. Fifteen per cent of the zillah parishad seats in the state are reserved for Scheduled Castes, 3 per cent for Scheduled Tribes, 33 per cent for backward castes and 33 per cent of the non-reserved seats for women. There will be a chief executive officer instead of a chief secretary who will not be under the control of the adhyaksha. The chief executive officer will assign duties and supervise zillah parishad officials in accordance with rules made by the state government.

NYAYA PANCHAYATS
: A five-member body, with at least one woman, elected by the mandal panchayat. Empowered to try specific civil and criminal cases. This institution was dropped in 1993.