SOCIAL AUDIT – An action towards securing 

rights & entitlements of Poorest & Marginalized 
[Ashok Kumar Sinha 
Karma Consultants, New Delhi] 

ABSTRACT 
The present document has explained the Social Audit processes and highlighted
this processes as an effective tool for eradicating the widespread corruption in
public life and the appropriation of resources meant for the poor. The current
need of the hour is to institutionalize the social audit process. And this process
could be planned for all the developmental issues and programmes, which are
made for the poor, vulnerable and socially excluded groups. We see the strategy
of implementation of social audit as building the capacity of the implementers’
vis-à-vis the process and steps of the social audit exercise. In this document we
have discussed in detail about the social audit process – its objective, process
and benefits etc. The document has been divided into three sections…

Section 1. Theoretical understanding about Social Audit

Section 2. Legal Basis of Social Audit Exercise and procurement of information 
Section 3. Suggestive action points for conducting Social Audit under the
leadership of communities, women and child based institutions

It is hoping from this document that civil society groups will come together and
make collective attempts for conducting social audits in the larger interest of
poorest & marginalized community groups with focus on women, dalits and
children groups.

May 2011
Section 1. Theoretical understanding about Social Audit

1.1 What is social audit?

Social audit is a community and people-led process of ensuring the

accountability of the government authorities and service providers.
It aims to involve all the stakeholders in the process to measure the
social performance in order to achieve improvement as well as to
report accurately on what has been done. This is a means for the
citizen to examine the power and authority of the government
through a transparent process of checking the abuse of power and
position.

It is a democratic process of ensuring public accountability through

a systemic demand of information by the community in response to
the work / programmes that have already been implemented by the
state or civil Society groups or Panchayat.

Definition
Social Audit is a process by which local people hold organizations and
government agencies to account. It gives people the opportunity to
explore an initiative and ask questions of those involved in the design and
implementation of the programme.
Guiding Principles:
• Multi Perspective: It should reflect the view of all the
stakeholders.
• Comprehensive: It should embrace all aspects of community
benefit and performance along with that of the organization.
• Regular: It should be conducted regularly and should not be an
occasional or one time program.
• Disclosure: The findings of the social audit should be made
available to the all the stakeholders and the wider community.
groups

1.2 Purpose

− To strengthen the grass root level democracy, especially

addressing its socio – economic domain by increasing social
pressure groups
− To employ Social Capital
− To promote the culture of transparency and accountability at
various levels
− To mobilize Panchayat representatives and functionaries for
ensuring effective implementation of the rural development
programmes
− To share the allocated budget and expenditure incurred
during implementation with larger community groups at
common platform in the presence of different stakeholders

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 − To involve poor people throughout the process to question
and seek to know the system and make it accountable
− To build a social platform for the poor, the vulnerable and the
socially excluded, from where they learn to demand their
rights and entitlements
− To increase people’s control over programmes for the poor.
− To prevent corruption by displaying the accounts also

1.3 How to do it?

• Through Conducting Public meetings and social gatherings
• Through organizing public hearing events (citizen jury)
• Through participatory budget tracking events and
• Service assessment events

1.4 Who should participate?

• People who suffered due to bad governance or are victims of
abuse of power and authority by government personnel.
• Village leaders and common people
• Community forums
• Elected representatives
• Senior Government authorities responsible
• Line Department functionaries
• Media persons
• NGO Representatives

1.5 Group Social Audit requires the following actions…

 Ask for all materials and documentation around a specific project
/ programme / schemes etc.
 This information is presented to interested stakeholders in an
accessible format, and then a week or so later a meeting is
called with the agency responsible to give local people an
opportunity to question the plans and expenditure and clarify
any issues they have with the data.
It is a way of strengthening grassroots democracy and enhancing
transparency and accountability of organizations that are
implementing development projects. Social audit process helped in
enhancing the accountability and transparency of institutions of
governance to poor and vulnerable groups. Social Audit should be
planned in such a fashion that community groups would understand
the process, its utility and benefits. The process requires rigorous
preparation and proper homework. The support from district
administration as well as block level functionaries is also needed.
Collection and compilation of information from different sources are
being considered as important activities, without which the very
purpose of monitoring and evaluation will be missed out. We can
use the present Right to Information Act, 2005 for collecting
information from government departments.

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Social Audit process is not only limited to Governance or Panchayati
Raj Institutions, but can be practiced in all development projects
which are committed to the people. In each social audit, people will
collect detailed information of one or two recent activities done by
Government or NGOs or any other agencies, analyze the
information and present it before the different sections of people
including district
administration. What can be achieved through social
Details of process auditing?
from environment • Tracking up of the implementation of policy
• Implementation of government programmes
building till the
• Proper utilization of allocated budget
final presentation • Increasing accountability
will be followed in • Making the government more responsive to
each social audit. the poor especially dalits, adivasi, women
Each facilitating and children
group will be • Making the governance system work for the
supported to meet poor and marginalized
their travel • Strengthen and Pro Poor Good governance
expenses,
photocopy of records, physical arrangements for the final
presentation and other small expenses. Public hearings will be
facilitated for greater participation of the people and to ensure food
security for the most vulnerable. Each social audit/Public hearing
will be a platform for the people, Government officials and political
representatives to be accountable to each other. All information
collected will help in providing evidence of ground reality of the
particular location.

Finally, we can say that social audit process provides us space for
our close engagement with the state, institutions and communities.
This engagement will be the aspiration to ensure realization of all
human rights. The process would be useful in enabling the
governance institutions to understand and mitigate the systematic
causes of rights denial and injustice to the poor and vulnerable
community.

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Section 2. Legal Basis of Social Audit Exercise and
procurement of information

2.1 The current 73rd amendment has provided the space for
social audit process to involve the community in the
monitoring and evaluation phases.

2.2 in the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee

Act, 2005 and other rural development programme, the
provision has been made for conducting social audit process
at the Gram Panchayat level.

2.3 Right to Information Act 2005, section 2 (J) (I) and (VII) in
which every citizen is entitle to inspect the government
programme and they can sample test of the quality
implementation

2.4 Jharkhand Panchayati Raj Act – 2001 sec 10 (II), (IV), (XIII),
(XXXI), (XLII) – Gram sabha is empower to recommend the
annual budget, audit of the programme and review the annual
income and expenditure accounts as well as monitor such
programme / project which is directly related to basic facilities
of the community. Gram Sabha is also empower to prepare
the village plans, its implementation and Supervision of all
development works carrying out with in the boundary of
village – (It is Jharkhand state specific provisions)

2.5 Panchayat Extension to Schedule Area (PESA) Act, 1996 - the

extension of 73rd amendment also much empowered the gram
sabha of Schedule Area to audit the development programme,
monitoring of the programme as well as control those
organization who are working under the purview of respective
gram sabha

Like wise Non Government Organization and International

Non-Government has also made the provisions for
conducting social audit and participatory reflection & review
processes for displaying of accountability of their work in
presences of all the associated stakeholders of the project.

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Section 3. Suggestive action points for conducting Social
Audit under the leadership of communities, women and child
based institutions

• To mobilize the gram sabha members, community leaders and

development service providers about the accountability process

• To identify the local issues in a larger platform and raised it to

mitigate the local problems through mass awareness, collective
action and sensitization of other stakeholders

• Formation of audit team with proper representation of strong

leaders who should have the capability to undertake the audit
process

• Orientation of the audit team on the issues, objectives of social

audit and processes of the social audit exercise

• Demarcation of the coverage areas and audit periods

• Setting up important indicators for the social audit

• Preparation of document needed to procure the information from

village to undertake the social audit and identification of
parameters where government data needed

• To highlights legal basis to ensure about the procurement of the

relevant data / information from the government departments
such as provisions laid down in the respective guidelines local
acts, provisions, state and central acts, etc

• Discussion with the audit team regarding the organization of

gram sabha meetings to submit the application in the relevant
government department to acquire the information in a
stipulated time

• Orientation of audit team to analyze the data / information

already depicted in the guidelines, information supplied by the
respective government department and information taken out
from the demarcated areas

• Completion of comparative analysis by the audit team and

preparation of analytical chart

• Organizing of gram sabha meeting o mass sensitization of people

based on the analysis and the verification of relevant local data

• Organizing of joint meeting of audit team and key leaders of

gram sabha to discuss future course of direction

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• Meeting of audit team and members of local CBOs to finalize the
date of social audit

• Initiation of wall writing, display of posters, distribution of hand

bills and announcement regarding social audit in common place

• Identification of testimony on the basis of certain indicators

• Orientation of testimonies by the audit team members

• Organizing the meeting of audit team and local CBOs leaders

regarding logistics arrangement and sequence of event and
invitation of local guest and other related government officials,
local representatives and other programme / policy influencing
peoples of the areas / region

• Constitution of JURI-composed of community leader, CBO

leaders, local influential people, committed cadre volunteers,
women leader and other who contributed in the current process

• Sequence of Event

o Introduction about the programme and announcement of

the name of Jury Members

o Cultural Programme based on objectives

o Objective of social audit

o Explanation about the detail process of audit

o Cultural Programme

o Explanation about the finding of analysis of social audit

o Presentation of facts by testimonies

o Statement by government representatives and peoples

representative for mitigation of problems

o Announcement of the resolution taken by the Juri members

o Vote of thanks by the organizing team

• Preparation of charter of demand

• Preparation of report of social audit

• Organizing public meeting and consulting government official for

presentation of social audit report