After the success of Hostel Daze, The Viral Fever signed a deal in late 2019 with Amazon Prime Video to produce a new streaming series, which became Panchayat.

Director Deepak Kumar Mishra drew inspiration from classic Doordarshan shows like Malgudi Days, Potli Baba Ki, Swami and Tenali Rama, aiming to make a similar kind of relatable show for the current era.

Writer Chandan Kumar and director Deepak Kumar Mishra travelled extensively across villages to research the script, a process that began in 2017 and delayed the project; the show was initially titled 'SDO Saheb' before being renamed Panchayat.

Lead actor Jitendra Kumar's character Abhishek Tripathi drew comparisons to Shah Rukh Khan's Mohan Bhargav from the 2004 film Swades, and Kumar said he was a huge fan of the film and even has a framed poster of it at home.

Neena Gupta, who plays village Pradhan Manju Devi, accepted the role partly due to TVF's track record and her prior collaboration with Jitendra Kumar as his on-screen mother in Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan.

Chandan Roy, who plays office assistant Vikas, originally auditioned for what he thought was a one-day, small role, but ended up being cast as a main character after traveling to Bhopal for the shoot.

The series was filmed in a real panchayat office in Mahodiya village, Sehore district, Madhya Pradesh, about 40 km from Bhopal, even though the story is set in a fictional village called Phulera in Uttar Pradesh.

Filming for the first season took place in March and April 2019 and wrapped within two months, under extremely hot conditions that made shooting difficult for the roughly 150-member crew, some of whom stood in fields holding umbrellas or lights.

Composer Anurag Saikia used only acoustic instruments like guitars, piano, accordion and kora for the score, despite initial attempts at symphonic, rock and jazz styles, taking one to two months to lock in the music for the first episode.

The song 'Hiya Tho' was inspired by chants Anurag Saikia heard growing up in monasteries in Northeast India, with 'Hiya' meaning 'heart' in Assamese; he recruited fellow Assamese singer Shankuraj Konwar for vocals.

At the inaugural Filmfare OTT Awards, Panchayat won nearly every award in its category except Best Actress, though writer Chandan Kumar's nomination for Best Original Story, Screenplay and Dialogues did not win.

Panchayat has been officially remade by TVF in Tamil as Thalaivettiyaan Paalayam (2024) and in Telugu as Sivarapalli (2025).