Social Audit
Notes
Social audit is the process in which the beneficiaries and community examine and verify a programme's records, spending and outcomes, usually in a public meeting. It complements financial audit (which checks accounts) by asking whether the services reached the intended people.
Origin: the MKSS in Rajasthan introduced Jan Sunwai (public hearings) in the 1990s to expose corruption in works.
Statutory backing
- MGNREGA, 2005 (Sec. 17): social audit by the Gram Sabha is mandatory. Social Audit Units (SAUs) are independent of the implementing agency.
- Andhra Pradesh institutionalised it first (2006), through the Society for Social Audit, Accountability and Transparency (SSAAT).
- Meghalaya: first State to pass a Social Audit law (Meghalaya Community Participation and Public Services Social Audit Act, 2017).
- Also used in the National Food Security Act, 2013, PM Awas Yojana and NSAP. The CAG issued Auditing Standards on Social Audit (2016).
Process: collecting records, sharing information with villagers, verification in the field, a public hearing in the Gram Sabha, and an action taken report.
Benefits: transparency, participation, deters corruption and leakages, empowers the marginalised. Challenges: low awareness, elite capture, political pressure, weak follow-up and punishment of wrongdoers, resource constraints.
Key Points
- Social audit: community verification of programmes.
- MKSS (Rajasthan) pioneered Jan Sunwai.
- MGNREGA Sec. 17 makes it mandatory; Andhra Pradesh was the first to institutionalise it.
- Meghalaya passed the first Social Audit Act (2017).
- CAG's Auditing Standards on Social Audit (2016).
MCQs
Q1. Social audit is mandatory under which Act? (a) RTI Act (b) MGNREGA, 2005 (c) RTE Act (d) Companies Act Ans: (b). Sec. 17.
Q2. Which State was the first to pass a Social Audit law? (a) Andhra Pradesh (b) Meghalaya (c) Rajasthan (d) Kerala Ans: (b). 2017.
Q3. The "Jan Sunwai" is associated with: (a) MKSS (b) Chipko movement (c) Narmada Bachao Andolan (d) Self-Employed Women's Association Ans: (a).