ADMINISTRATION IN A VILLAGE
Two rural government officials play an important role in administering the villagers during conflicts: the patwari and the police. The patwari is the land record officer, whose job is to visit agricultural lands and maintain record of ownership and yield. The local police solve the quarrels and are in charge of maintaining law and order in the village.

The Police
Villages are divided into areas and put under different police stations. Each police station is responsible for maintenance of law and order of that area. The people of that particular area can report cases of burglary, quarrels and accidents in the police station. The SHO or the Station House Officer is in charge of the police station. He has many police constables under him. The SHO registers a case by taking a written statement of the complaint. This is called the FIR or the First Information Report. Then as per procedure the police begin an investigation on the matter and takes appropriate legal action.

The Patwari
    The chief duties of the patwari include :
    1.    visiting agricultural lands and preparing land maps
    2.    maintaining records of land owner, that is, the number of people who own that land.
    3.    maintaining records of the crop grown at every harvest.
    4.    collecting land revenue irrigation dues, etc. from the farmers.

The patwari regularly updates his record when there are changes, such as when a fanner rents out his land, buys more land, changes the crop grown or divides his land among family members. The patwari also provides a copy of his records to the villagers on the payment of a small fee when they need it to apply for a loan, land transfer, etc.