Grama Niladhari (English: village leader,[1] Sinhala: ග්රාම නිලධාරී) is a Sri Lankan public official appointed by the central government by the act No.2 of 1993.
[2] Grama Niladhari (GN) are entrusted with multifaceted duties and responsibilities under as 46 legislative enactments[3] [4] of Sri Lanka.
The duties of a grama niladhari include the reporting of issuing of permits, gathering statistics, maintaining the voter registry and keeping the peace by settlement of personal disputes.
Establish and co-ordinate administrative policies and procedures for required community members and officials of the divisional secretariats.
The post of Grama Sevaka (village servant) was created in May 1963 as part of the public administration reforms carried out by Minister Felix Dias Bandaranaike in the Sirimavo Bandaranaike government, which replaced the post of village headman (Vidane) which dated back to the British the colonial era.