what is the difference between a patwari and a gram panchayat

Gram Panchayats are bodies of local self-government that function at the level of villages. A Gram Panchayat may comprise of either a single village or two or more villages clubbed together for this purpose. It is headed by the Sarpanch and is responsible for street lights, construction of roads, village markets, recording births, deaths and marriages, providing education and looking after sanitation.

Patwari is an administrative officer at the village level with the task of preserving records related to land. The records kept by the patwari are used for calculating land revenues.

The panchayat is an elected body that takes collective decisions while the patwari is appointed by the government. The panchayat is mainly concerned with development activities while the job of the patwari is to maintain land records to facilitate revenue collection.