Friends,
Quarry posted by me in Solution Exchange is placed below. I will be grateful for comments from Members of this group.
I have also initiated yahoo group Audit_By_Citizens, that has focus on issues related to Social Audit . Persons interested in the subject may like to join it.
Dhirendra Krishna
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[se-decn] QUERY: URGENT- Reply by 22 July 2011. Social Audit in Decentralized Governance. Examples; Experiences.
FROM:
Dhirendra Krishna
TO:
Decentralization Community
Message flagged Friday, 15 July 2011 4:07 PM
Moderator's Note: We are posting a new query from Dhirendra Krishna, New Delhi . The query invites members to share experiences on institutionalizing social audit as a feedback mechanism for development programmes and gains on social audit in schemes such as MGNREGA and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. Please note that the query is urgent- your recommendations would feed into concrete action plans being developed by the Institute of Public Auditors of India through a workshop in late July and through the Decentralization Community. Thanks.
Dear members,
I am a currently working on issues related to accountability in public administration, including social audit and operationalization of the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
In recent times, civic engagement in the governance processes has been on the increase in India and other countries. Advent of ICT has made it easier for citizens to get together and articulate their feelings, adding a new dimension to democratic governance. Response of the government has been in the form of various rights based legislation such as the MGNREGA and the RTE. Social accountability is recognized as one of the major factors in transparent governance. At the level of programme implementation, MGNREGA has emphasized upon Social Audit as one of the tools for ensuring accountability to citizens.
The concept of Social Audit is based on the premise that citizens have the right to both know how they are governed and to participate actively in auditing elected representatives, the services delivered and programmes implemented. Social Audit is thus, a natural corollary to effective decentralization. Under the Panchayati Raj system in India , the Gram Sabha has been given the `watchdog' powers in most States to supervise and monitor the functioning of the Panchayat elected representatives and functionaries, examine annual statement of accounts and audit reports. They thus have implied powers to carry out Social Audit. Development schemes can succeed only by public participation. Efforts to involve citizens in planning and monitoring of development activities are incorporated in various centrally sponsored schemes, but social audit has a statutory basis only in MGNREGA.
In the context of the importance of Social Audit as an accountability tool, members inputs are requested on the following:
How can Social Audit be integrated into the measures already initiated by Central and State Governments to promote community participation in decentralized participatory planning, implementation and monitoring ? How can it be institutionalized as an effective feedback mechanism, for sustainable local development and correcting administrative shortcomings?
There is a Chapter on Social Audit in MGNREGA and there are well-documented cases regarding gains from Social Audit, particularly in Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh. What are the achievements of Social Audit of MGNREGA in other States and the practical implementation problems in the same? What has been the practical experience about social audit in other areas such as Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan ?
In what ways can Social Audit supplement audit by C&AG, Internal Audit and administrative monitoring of development schemes ? What institutional support is needed to promote citizens participation by facilitating social audit process?
Your inputs would help us in arriving at recommendations for Central Government, State Government and C&AG, from the platform of the Decentralization Community. This would be in addition to my current engagement in the Institute of Public Auditors of India of organizing a Workshop on "Social Audit- Roadmap for Effective Public Accountability", where we are trying to derive concrete action plans.
Regards,
Dhirendra Krishna
New Delhi
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