FILE G · GLOSSARY · Posts & offices
Patwari
పట్వారీAlso: Karanam
MEANING
The hereditary village accountant of old — keeper of the village records before the VRO system.
The patwari (karanam in Andhra areas) system was abolished in the 1980s and replaced by VROs; the word survives in every conversation about old records, because the patwari wrote them.