Information-Monitoring, Evaluation, and Social Audit (I-MESA): Social Audit

• Bringing to light gaps and lapses in programme implementation for improvement.
• Creating awareness generation regarding the programmes being implemented.
• Providing a platfm for mutual dialogue among various stakeholders for scheme improvement.
• Providing a platform for right holders for timely grievance redressal.
• Ensuring transparency and accountability in scheme implementation.
• Seeking responses from primary stakeholders based on ground realities for course correction and policy framework impact.
• Promoting people’s participation in all stages of programme implementation.

##### *Conditions*

• The cost of conduct of social audits will be met from the respective scheme’s administrative cost.
• Funds shall be given to Social Audit Units through the National Institute of Social Defence, New Delhi, based on budgets calculated and reviewed by the National Resource Cell for Social Audits.
• The first installment (50% of the total budget) is provided after the submission of the social audit calendar.
• The second tranche will be provided after completion of all audits, uploading of findings, and preparation of the annual analytical report.

<br>

• The applicant must have experience of working with the Social Audit Unit for at least 2 to 3 years.
• The applicant must have experience facilitating social audits of schemes apart from the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.
• The team Coordinator leading the team must preferably have completed a 30 days’ certificate course on social accountability and social audit.
• The applicant must ensure the representation of the Scheduled Castes and Other Backward Classes community and the especially abled in the team.
• The team must preferably comprise 50% women members.

##### *Desirable Criteria*

• The applicant should have experience working with the elderly, children, victims of substance abuse, and experience working in rehabilitative institutions.
• Anganwadi workers, Accredited Social Health Activists, Civil Society Organization representatives, or para-legal volunteers working in that area can be included in the team for community support and mobilization.
• Students/Interns from academic institutions can be engaged as members of the Social Justice Cell after being trained.

<br>

##### Step 1:** *Initiation and Preparatory Phase***

• The Department of Social Justice and Empowerment (D/oSJE) sends a letter to the Social Audit Units (SAUs) detailing the audit protocols, processes, targets, and the specific list of institutions or villages to be social audited for the financial year.
• The SAUs are responsible for forming the Social Justice Cell (SJC) by selecting resource persons and must finalize the calendar, target, and budget for the entire social audit process.
• The implementing agency must arrange to proactively provide all necessary documents and information related to the scheme to the Social Audit teams 15 days prior to the commencement of the field verification process.

##### Step 2:** *Orientation and Sensitization Meeting***

• An Orientation or Entry Point Meeting must be held at the State or District level exactly 15 days before the actual social audit process begins in the field.
• This meeting is called by the social welfare department upon request from the SAU and serves to apprise institution heads and department officials of the social audit&#39;s objective and process.
• Representatives of the SAU will orient participants on the audit parameters, the target villages or institutions, the documents needed for verification, and the proposed Social Justice Assembly dates.

##### Step 3:** *Field Verification and Draft Report Creation***

• The Social Audit team conducts extensive field verification, which comprises three types: verification of records, verification of worksites/infrastructure, and verification of beneficiaries through interaction.
• The team conducts personal interviews and focus group discussions with beneficiaries, staff, and stakeholders to check the ground reality against official records and assess the quality of services/facilities.
• Based on the findings and observations gathered during the verification process, the Social Audit team prepares a draft report in a prescribed format, ensuring it is backed by evidence and written in the local language.

##### Step 4:** *Validation and District Assembly***

• A Validation meeting (Beneficiary Sabha or Gram Sabha) is conducted at the village/institutional level, where the social audit team reads out the draft report findings for discussion and confirmation by primary stakeholders.
• This meeting serves as a collective platform for beneficiaries to raise issues concerning them, obtain further information, and receive responses from persons involved in scheme implementation.
• The final validated Social Audit report is then presented at the Social Justice Assembly, conducted at the district level in the mandatory presence of concerned department representatives, for examination and decision-making by a constituted panel.

##### Step 5:** *Action Taken and Reporting***

• The Social Audit Unit prepares the proceedings detailing the decisions taken during the District Social Justice Assembly and forwards this documentation to all concerned Departments and Institutions within 7 days.
• The concerned departments and institutions must ensure they submit the Action Taken Report (ATR) based on the panel&#39;s decisions to the social welfare department and the SAU within 15 days.
• The implementing department/institution is mandated to upload the complete Action Taken Report onto the Management Information System (MIS) designed for social audit within 30 days of the conclusion of the District Social Justice Assembly.

<br>