Taluka: A block or sub-division of a district, also called a Tehsil

Panchayat Samiti: The block development office which co-ordinates developmental activities at the taluka level

Gram Sevak: Village level functionary co-ordinating and implementing local development schemes

Talati: The village level revenue official

Tarun Mandal: An organised youth group

Gram Panchayat: The elected body at the village level which carries out local government functions

Shramadaan: Voluntary labour which is unpaid, used particularly in the context of collective community efforts for development

Zilla Parishad: The District Council, which forms the topmost level under the three-tier Panchayati Raj system

Harijan: Literally, "People of God"; a word coined by Mahatma Gandhi to refer to the dalit castes

Chulha: Cooking stove which uses coal and firewood as fuel

Balwadi: Indigenous Montessori school

Bhajans: Devotional songs

Mahila Mandal: Organised women's group

Jatra: A village fair

Bail Pola: A peasant festival which is celebrated after the sowing season; it symbolises the veneration of bullocks

Moksha: Salvation; es per Hindu spiritualism, it implies a release from the endless cycle of life and death

Dalit: A contemporary term which refers to oppressed and depressed classes, in particular the lowest castes

Mahar: One of the largest of the dalit castes; a large section of this caste converted en mass to Buddhism, under the leadership of Babasaheb Ambedkar

Chambhar: Another section of dalits whose traditional occupation is cobbling

Matang: The rope makers amogst the dalits

Nhavi: The barber caste

Bharhadi: A nomadic group whose traditional occupation was singing of ballads

Sutar: The carpenter caste

Pooja: The prayer ritual

Gobar: Dung

Bandharas: check dams

Nullah: A stream or rivulet

Krishi Pandhari: Pandhari refers to the pilgrimage to a very famous centre (Pandharpur); in this context it refers to imparting of agricultural extension education through field visits

Vrikshamitra: Friend of trees

Bajra   Hardy millet crops which torm a staple part of the
Jowar  peasant's diet

Charkhas: Spinning wheels

Masala: Spices

Mandap: Canopy

Devarshi: A religious mendicant

Tantra-Mantra: Religious gibberish which is supposed to have magical healing powers

Nyaya Panchayat: A body of village elders constituted to mete out justice, locally

Gram Sabha: A general assembly of villagers

Shudra: The untouchables who were placed at the lowest rung under our country.

Dharna: A sit-in protest

Yogasana: Yoga exercises

Geeta: The Bhagvad Geeta - one of the important Hindu religious texts
 
Hari-Paatth: Hymns in the worship of Lord Vishnu

Gram Swarajya: Village self-rule

Samadhan Chulha: A model of firewood cooking stove which is designed to control and lessen smoke emissions

Maun Satyagraha: Abstaining from verbal communication as a peaceful form of protest

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