Tehsil

"Taluk" and "Mandal" redirect here. For other uses, seeTaluk, IranandMandal (disambiguation).

Atehsil(Hindustani pronunciation:[tɛɦsiːl],also known astahsil,taluk,ortaluka) is a local unit ofadministrative divisionin India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within adistrictincluding the designated populated place that serves as its administrative centre, with possible additional towns, and usually a number ofvillages.The terms in India have replaced earlier terms, such aspargana(pergunnah) andthana.

InAndhra PradeshandTelangana,a newer unit calledmandal(circle) has come to replace the [tehsil system]. It is generally smaller than a tehsil, and is meant for facilitating local self-government in thepanchayat system.InWest Bengal,Bihar, Jharkhand,community development blocksare the empowered grassroots administrative unit, replacing tehsils.

Tehsil office is primarily tasked with land revenue administration, besides election and executive functions. It is the ultimate executive agency forland recordsand related administrative matters. The chief official is called thetehsildaror, less officially, thetalukdarortaluka muktiarkar.Tehsil or taluk can be considered sub-districts in the Indian context. In some instances, tehsils overlap with "blocks"(panchayat union blocks or panchayat development blocks or cd blocks) and come under the land and revenue department, headed by the tehsildar; and blocks come under therural developmentdepartment, headed by theblock development officerand serve different government administrative functions over the same or similar geographical area.

Although they may on occasion share the same area with a subdivision of a revenue division, known asrevenue blocks,the two are distinct. For example,Raipur districtin Chhattisgarh state is administratively divided into 13 tehsils and 15 revenue blocks.Nevertheless, the two are often conflated.

Background

India, as a vast country, is subdivided into many states and union territories for administrative purposes. Furtherdivisionsof these states are known asdistricts.These districts (zila/zilla) are again divided into manysubdivisions,viz tehsils or taluks. These subdivisions are again divided intogram panchayatsor village panchayats.Initially, this was done for collecting land revenue and administration purposes. But now these subdivisions are governed in tandem with other departments of government like education, agriculture, irrigation, health, police, etc. The different departments of state government generally have offices at tehsil or taluk level to facilitate good governance and to provide facilities to common people easily.

Nomenclature

In India, the termtehsilis commonly used in allnorthern states.InMaharashtra,Gujarat,Goa,Karnataka,KeralaandTamil Nadu,taluka or talukis more common.InEastern India,instead of tehsils, the termSubdivisionis used inBihar,Assam,JharkhandandWest Bengal,as well as large parts ofNortheast India(Manipur,Meghalaya,Mizoram,SikkimandTripura). InArunachal PradeshandNagaland,they are calledcircle.

Tehsil/tahsil and taluk/taluka and the variants are used as English words without further translation. Since these terms are unfamiliar to English speakers outside thesubcontinent,the wordcountyhas sometimes been provided as agloss,on the basis that a tehsil, like a county, is an administrative unit hierarchically above the local city, town, or village, but subordinate to a larger state or province. India and Pakistan have an intermediate level of hierarchy (or more than one, at least in parts of India): thedistrict,also sometimes translated ascounty.In neither case is the analogy very exact.

Organization setup

Tehsildaris the chief or key government officer of each tehsil or taluka.In some states different nomenclature like talukdar, mamledar, amaldar, mandal officer is used. In many states of India, the tehsildar functions as the executive magistrate of that tehsil. Each tehsil will have an office called tehsil office or tehsildar office at a designated place within tehsil area known as tehsil headquarters. Tehsildar is the incharge of tehsil office. This is similar to district office or district collector at district level.

Throughout India, there is a three-tier local body/Panchayat system within the state. At the top is the zila/zilla panchayat (parishad). Taluka/mandal panchayat/panchayat samiti/community development block is the second layer of this system and below them are the gram panchayats or village panchayats. These panchayats at all three levels have elected members from eligible voters of particular subdivisions. These elected members form the bodies which help the administration in policy-making, development works, and bringing grievances of the common public to the notice of the administration.

Nayabatis the lower part of tehsil which have some powers like tehsil. It can be understood as tehsil is the sub-district of a district, similarly, Nayabat is the sub-tehsil of a tehsil.

See also

• Administrative divisions of India
  • List of subdistricts in India
• Tehsil in Pakistan
  • List of tehsils in Pakistan
• Taluqdar,a land holder and tax collector
• Tehsildar,a revenue administrative officer
• Village accountant

External links

• 2001 mapsprovides maps of social, economic and demographic data of India in 2001