Karnataka Panchayat Raj Act

• The functions, powers and duties of a Gram Panchayat were established and legally defined under the Karnataka Panchayat Raj Act of 1993 under the power of the Indian government. The act establishes a three-tier structure for governance within Indian districts, with Gram Panchayat the lowest of the three tiers. The highest level is the Zilla Panchayat, a body that governs each Indian district, followed by the elected Taluk Panchayat that governs a specified area within each district.
  
  

Projects

• One of the main duties of a Gram Panchayat is to raise funds through the collecting of taxes within the legal limits set by the Indian government system. A Gram Panchayat raises funds that it uses to identify and locate projects that would benefit the communities within the villages it serves. It funds projects that benefit a community through education, health, water supply and transport improvements, the International Labor Organization reports.
  
  

Sanitation

• The major duties of a Gram Panchayat include the continued increase in the level of sanitation and general health of a community under their jurisdiction. These duties include providing a 10-percent increase in the installation of sanitary latrines within a community each year, until all households within the community have access to sanitary latrines. Community latrines within the villages under Gram Panchayat jurisdictions must also be made available to both men and women within a community, and the Gram Panchayat is responsible for maintaining the general drainage systems and sanitation of a community. In terms of children's health, the organization makes immunizing all children possible, along with the primary education of all children within a community.
  
  

Transport

• The area administered by a Gram Panchayat has its road and public transport system maintained and repaired by the administration. The Gram Panchayat is awarded an annual fund, in addition to the funds raised by taxes, to administer its chosen projects. It must use these funds to construct new roads and improve the public transport system where required.