Revenue blocks, revenue circles, ''firka'', or ''patwar circles'' are the local revenue sub-divisions of the various districts of the
states of India. These blocks should not be confused with the similar Panchayath union blocks (Blocks) and ''
taluks
A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...
''. The revenue blocks exist to simplify local administration, and each consists of a small number of revenue villages, governed by a Revenue Inspector. The Revenue Inspector is charged with a number of key administrative roles, most notably the identification and collection of
tax
A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...
revenue. Sometimes the land area in a revenue circle is identified as an ILRC (Inspector Land Revenue Circle) for administrative purposes. While Revenue blocks may be as large as or larger than a tehsil, revenue circles are generally smaller. In the state of
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...
alone, there are 1,349 revenue blocks.
See also
*
Patwari
A Village accountant or Patwari (Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, West Bengal), Talati (Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra) or Lekhpal (Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand), is an administrative government position in rural areas of the Indian subcontinent ...
, an official in a patwar
[Anirudh Krishna, ''Active Social Capital: Tracing the Roots of Development and Democracy'', Columbia University Press (2002, )]
*
Tehsildar
In India and Pakistan, a Tehsildar or Mamlatdar is a tax officer accompanied by revenue inspectors. They are in charge of obtaining taxes from a tehsil with regard to land revenue. A tehsildar is also known as an executive magistrate of the relev ...
References
Local government in India
Indian feudalism
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