Social audit
What is Social Audit
The term social audit has been interpreted in several ways. In common parlance, audit refers to the inspection of the institution's finances by an authorised body or department. Here, it is worth mentioning that financial audit differs from social audit. The social audits are expected to examine the social accountability of public institutions from the perspective of the welfare of the target/user community.
In social science, it is reorganization as a powerful tool to enforce transparency and accountability. However, social scientists define it as a systematic and comprehensive evaluation of an organization social performance, which is elucidated as an organization in augmenting the welfare of citizens. It is a continuous process that includes verification of works in implementation of the government schemes/programme. It can be stated as an activity to audit a scheme/programme jointly by the Government, Civil Society Organization and citizens especially its beneficiaries.
Official Definition of Social Audit
Social Audit as defined in Legislations
Section 17 of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005
The Mahatma Gandhi NREGA gives the Gram Sabha the right to Social Audit of all works and expenditures. This includes facilitation of the social audit through independent Social Audit Units, complete access to all records- online and offline, and pro-active disclosure through wall writings.
Section 17 of the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA, 2005 mandates the Gram Sabha to conduct Social Audits as under:
1. The Gram Sabha shall monitor the execution of works within the Gram Panchayat.
2. The Gram Sabha shall conduct regular social audits of all the projects under the Scheme taken up within the Gram Panchayat.
3.The Gram Panchayat shall make available all relevant documents including the muster rolls, bills, vouchers, measurement books, copies of sanction orders and other connected book of account and papers to the Gram Sabha for the purpose of conducting Social Audit.
Rule 3 of MGNREGA Audit of Scheme Rules provides for the process of Social Audit
The Rules directs the state governments to establish or identify an independent unit referred as ‘Social Audit Unit’ to facilitate the Gram Sabha to conduct Social Audit at least every six months. Social Audit process and obligation of different concerns are mentioned in the Rules. The aspects of transparency and accountability, fulfilment of rights & entitlements of the citizens and proper utilization of funds in implementation of the Act are emphasized in the Rules. Engagement of CSO, deployment of suitable resource persons at different level, drawing of primary stakeholders in verification process to facilitate the process of Social Audit are important aspects of the rule
The Meghalaya Community Participation and Public Services Social Audit Act, 2017
The Meghalaya pilots have also helped formulate a practical framework through which social audits can be done. This Act can be seen as RTI (Right to Information)  plus Act as it not only ensures the mandatory disclosure of information under RTI Act but also provide a mechanism to get the due entitlements for the people.
Key objectives of the Act:development programs and public services
▪ To monitor the effectiveness and efficiency of the implementation of the development programs a0nd public services.
▪ To monitor and encourage transparency in the delivery mechanisms of the developmental programs and public services.
▪ To enhance citizen's ownership in the development initiatives taken up by the Government.
▪ To provide a platform for airing of public grievances and ensure a time-bound redress of the same.
As per the guidelines of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Gaurantee Act, 2013 the Government of Meghalaya has established an independent organization, "Social Audit Unit" (SAU) in the name - Meghalaya Society for Social Audit & Transparency (MSSAT). The society is registered under the Meghalaya Society Registration Act XII of 1860. The basic purpose of forming this society is to facilitate the conduct of Social Audit at the Village level, so as to ensure Transparency & Accountability.
As defined in official government reports
The Second Administrative Reforms Commission (SARC) in its report stated,
“Institutionalising a system of social audit is essential for improving local service delivery and for ensuring compliance with laws and regulations. An effective system of social audit will have to be based on two precepts; first, that service standards are made public through citizens’ charters and second, that periodic and disclosure is made on attainment of service delivery standards by the local bodies. Social audit processes are also important to ensure effectiveness. They should also evolve a suitable framework of social audit clarifying its objectives, scope and methods. Such framework may be evolved in each State through extensive consultations with the civil society organisations and others. The NGOs and the CBOs should be given support and encouragement to mobilise the local community in undertaking social audit. The formal audit should give due consideration to the findings of social audit and vice versa.” (para 3.8.4.4.1)
As defined in Official Documents
Social Audit Guidelines released by the Ministry of Rural Development National Social Assistance Program (NSAP) discusses Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) defines the scope and process for conducting Social Audits in NSAPs
Definition of Social Audit is given by CGG (2005) in respect of social organization. Here, Social Audit is described as an independent evaluation process. It evaluates programme performance of an organization towards its social goals. It described as a tool for social accountability that entails detailed examination and analysis of the programmes. The process of Social Audit helps the organisation to overview the socio-economic-environmental benefits of its welfare activities. It is a form of regular & organized monitoring. It involves all important stakeholders in its process
Social Audit for PRIs
The government of Kerala was the first to introduce Social Audit for its local bodies under Kerala Panchayat Raj Act of 1994 as regular practices for making the local bodies accountable to the public. The other objectives were to initiate rational decision on schemes & projects and to increase social consciousness about the welfare activities of the GPs etc refer - https://www.kila.ac.in/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/socialAuditReport2021.pdf
Social Stock Exchange in India
The detailed framework on Social Stock Exchange has been rolled out by SEBI via circular dated September 19, 2022 mandates disclosure of Annual Impact Report all Social Enterprises which have registered or raised funds using Social Stock Exchange. The circular provides for a detailed framework requiring assessment based on strategic intent and planning, approach, and impact score card.
As defined by Civil Societies
- Centre for Civil Society in its report Social Audit framework for Education Sector defines Social Audit as
Social audit, as a commonly understood notion, refers to the process by means of which the performance of a programme or policy can be evaluated against a predetermined set of parameters. These parameters, primarily non-monetary in nature, provide for a comprehensive assessment of the said program or policy. Social audit involves an evaluation of the cost and benefits of a policy to determine if the policy delivers what it claims or intends to; whether or not it reaches the targeted population. As a corollary to this, the social audit process screens policy for potential loopholes in terms of whether or not there is any scope for the nontargeted population to avail benefits. It is also an instrument to assess hether the policy in question comes with externalities; it can be used to rectify this potential collateral damage to parties with conflicting interests
Research that engages with
Social Audit Toolkit: A guide for performance improvememnt and outcome Measurement
This report to the CGG [ CENTRE OF GOOD GOVERANCE] which is a body constituted by the government of Andhra Pradesh (GoAP) in october 2001, to help it achieve its goal of transforming government in accordance with vision 2020. This toolkit comprises of two section . section 1 introduce the concepts of purpose ,history and goals of social audit which will help understanding the framework of social audit.section 2 describes how this toolkit is to be used in a sequential process for conducting social audit and the preparation of social audit reports.
Activating Social Audits in Orissa
This document by the World Bank is a part of an initiative by the Centre for Youth and Social Development which sought to explore options to activate the social audit process in Orissa. The design draws on the provisions of the Act with a view to developing a sustainable model for the state. The pilot was conducted in six gram panchayats where the various stages of preparation, committee formation, auditing and reporting were developed. The paper highlights the importance of social audits as an instrument to support implementation, and in particular of raising awareness and ensuring clarity regarding the roles of various stakeholders. Taking this process forward demands a long term perspective, based on collaboration between the government and civil society that can develop the capacities of benefi ciaries to ensure effective implementation at the local level.
(CENTRE FOR CIVIL SOCIETY) The paper seeks to define social audit, following which it will undertake a study of certain provisions of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (RTE) so as to identify the social audit requirements of the Act. In order to do so, a study of previously employed social audit models/ frameworks across the livelihood sector will be conducted by studying the social audit of the MNREGA scheme. Case studies of education sector social audit models across Bhutan and Brazil will follow the cross-sectoral analysis. All parameters so derived will then be further built upon by a ground-level study of the stakeholders- primarily students, parents and teachers- and their expectations of the education system. The final product of the paper will be a comprehensive set of parameters for social audit in the education sector, derived cumulatively from the aforementioned methods
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References
- Centre For Civil Society (https://ccs.in/)
- https://www.cgg.gov.in/core/uploads/2017/07/Social-Audit-Toolkit-Final.pdf
- https://static.pib.gov.in/WriteReadData/specificdocs/documents/2021/nov/doc2021112931.pdf
- https://static.pib.gov.in/
- https://megrti.gov.in/
- https://www.kila.ac.in/
- https://darpg.gov.in/
- https://nsap.nic.in/#
- https://www.kila.ac.in/
- https://www.sebi.gov.in/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/
- https://www.rvoicmai.in/e-
