panchayat
/pʌnˈtʃʌɪjət
/noun Indian
A village council.This means that overall control of a large distributed system must grow out of smaller, simpler, local authority: village panchayats, for example....
- In most villages, the panchayats or village councils and the powerful fishing societies are dominated by men.
- Decisions are being taken at State capitals on behalf of the village panchayats without consulting them - in fact concealing information from them.
Origin
From Hindi (originally denoting a council consisting of five members), from Sanskrit panca 'five' + āyatta 'depending upon'.