Be Mains Ready

Approach

• Define social audit and explain how its helps in good governance.
• Mention some best practices in this direction.
• Conclude by giving relevant suggestions for institutionalizing social audits.

Intro

• Good governance focuses on a process of decision-making that is transparent, accountable, effective, and inclusive. Opening up government data to the public is arguably an essential ingredient for good governance. But If citizens lack the means to actually hold their governments accountable, attempts to foster good governance will likely fail.
• As defined in 2nd ARC report, social audit refers to engagement of stakeholders in measuring the achievement of objectives under any or all of the activities of government organization, especially those pertaining to developmental goals.

Body

• The whole process is based on the social engagement of people through Gram Sabhas and NGOs who evaluate and provide feedback to the government schemes. Therefore, effective social accountability is made up of three building blocks- voice, enforceability and answerability – which together forms a cycle.

• The following are the merits of social audits which help in good governance:
  • Brings greater accountability and transparency in the target programme.
  • Provides opportunity for grassroots actions against corruption and favouritism.
  • Prevents diversion of funds and makes policies more effective.
  • Plays a significant role in redressing individual worker grievances.
  • Helps in building social capital and trust in communities to articulate and share citizen’s voice.
• Hence, social audits represent a bottom-up approach where citizens are critical agents of change.
• Realising the importance of a participatory approach in good governance, there have been many initiatives recently.
  
  • Meghalaya became the first state to enact the social audit law.
  • Social audits have been made mandatory in several government initiatives like:
    
    • National Food Security Mission (NFSM).
    • MGNREGA
    • e-Panchayat Mission Mode Project to strengthen e-Governance in Panchayati Raj institutions across India with dedicated a portal.
  • Supreme Court ordered for providing robust infrastructural backup for social audits and called for effective implementation for CAG’s guidelines in state run social audit units.

Conclusion

Hence, social audits coupled with RTI will bring in the much needed transparency and accountability in governance. Need of the hour is political will to provide legal backing and empowerment of local bodies and civil society groups to make social audits a success.