Benefits of Social Audit

♤ Social Audit facilitates transformation of citizens from a passive recipient to a demanding client, thus making the Government answerable.

♤ They help raise awareness about entitlements.

♤ These Audits allow beneficiaries of different schemes to lodge complaints regarding malpractices.

♤ Involvement of people in developmental activities ensures that money is spent where it is actually needed.

♤ Unlike the traditional forms of audit, social audit is a continuous process.

♤ Helps in reduction of wastages & corruption.

♤ Promotes integrity and a sense of community partnership among people & improves the standard of governance.

The loopholes in the implementation of Social Audits can be best understood through the example of MGNREGA where it has been implemented across states.

♤ Very few states have actually instituted social auditing mechanism despite mandatory provisions in acts like MGNREGA.

♤ The involvement of local representatives in malpractices has sometimes resulted in resistance to social audits.

♤ The audits are yet to result in effective redressal. While a modest decline in administrative complaints related to the non-provision of work was observed, there was an increase in complaints of missing records on material expenditures.

♤ The impact of audits on other programme outcomes — employment generation, targeting of the SC/ST population — is often absent.

♤ The follow-up and enforcement of punishments are weak. Also, there is absence of establishment of vigilance cells in most of the cases.

♤ Relative lack of expertise among local bodies and social dynamics sometimes make it naming and shaming exercise.