Social Audit Campaign in Bihar Towards Transparency and
Accountability Subhendra Nath Sanyal
Slide 2
General Practice Officials conducted Social Audits by making a
day long visit to a GP and verified documents in front of the
villagers Part of regular monitoring process CSO(other party)
involvement absent Limited discussions on gaps or issues Limited
community (Gram Sabha) involvement Findings uploaded in MIS
Slide 3
Initiation of Pilots Government of Bihar identified leading
CSOs who were facilitating social audit in the state. Government of
Bihar in joint collaboration with PACS initiated pilots in 40 GPs
in 2014 Facilitators were assigned from local CSOs Social Audit
conducted were as per Audit of Scheme Rules 2011 which proved to be
participative and effective Action were taken on major findings of
the report However, more systems response was required in providing
documents on time and taking action on gaps /issues found in the
reports
Slide 4
Initiation of Social Audit Campaign With the concerted effort
of MoRD,GoI ; RDD, GoB and NIRD Social Audit in 200 GPs of all 38
districts of Bihar was planned Support of CSOs having experience
and zeal of working in the state was taken Five GPs from each
districts were selected The criteria of GP selection being- Two
highest spending, two lowest spending and one random
Slide 5
Steps followed Meeting with CSOs to finalise the approach and
calendar Formation of State Resource Group to take the process
forward Identification of District Resource Persons (DRP), one DRP
per district from CSOs Orientation at state level for DDCs, BDOs,
POs Training of DRPs by NIRD Formation of Social Audit committee at
district level CSO and Administration side representation
ensured
Slide 6
Social Audit Team Gram Sabha held at every GP to select local
Social Audit Team to help Village Resource Persons Each team had 1
DRP + 2 VRPs + 2 Sahyogi (identified by VRPs locally from CSOs) to
support. From each GP 5-7 local youths were identified by Gram
Sabha In Each phase two GPs were audited simultaneously
Slide 7
Training and Preparation 200 Village Resource Persons were
identified by DRPs and validated by district committee VRPs trained
at four centers by NIRD which included two days field exposure
District level workshops held for PRIs, MGNREGA functionaries to
discuss their role and calendar All documents of 2013-14 and
2014-15 of MGNREGA scheme were ensured Observers notified by
district for each GP hearing Observers assigned were of SDC or
above rank officer
Slide 8
Social Audit Process First day: Settling down in GP Second day:
Gram Sabha to orient villagers and select social audit team and
Nazri Naksha prepared for identifying MNREGA Assets Third to Sixth
day : Door to Door oral verification, Physical verification and
document verification Seventh day :Report preparation Eighth Day:
Gram Sabha cum GP level hearing in presence of observers
Slide 9
Social Audit Process.. contd Compilation of reports by Social
Audit Team DRPs handed over the report to DPC within 48 hrs of Gram
Sabha District level Hearings organised to take actions on the
reported gaps and issues
Slide 10
Trends in Social Audit Report Possession of Job cards/passbook
not with workers Gram Sabha not held for selection of works Delayed
payment (most of it due to lack of funds ) Fake name in muster roll
Payment to fake workers (dead workers) Poor quality of works No
work in ground Lack of worksite facilities Schemes not provided to
weaker sections MGNREGA has not delivered to its potentials
Slide 11
Significant Achievements Government partnered with CSOs to
conduct social audit 225 Resource persons identified and trained
Process, protocols and formats field tested Enhanced support from
District administration and took ownership of processes
Participative and effective Gram Sabhas Issues identified and
actions taken Environment for social audit created Political and
bureaucratic will established Recording of each step done to create
a documentary film for knowledge repository
Slide 12
Challenges faced Availability of complete documents to teams by
District Admin(The process had to be stopped in E. Champaran
district due to non availability of documents) Absence of notified
observers and panelists in GP & district levels Non-
notification of panel members by the District Administration
Security of SA teams ( Threats and attack on SA teams in
Muzaffarpur, Gopalganj & Bhagalpur Effective and timely use of
IEC for awareness generation Timely payment to DRPs/VRPs/Sahyogi
Monitoring by officials
Slide 13
Way Ahead Scaling up of this process to 1000 GPs to strength
the process further Setting up of an independent Social audit unit
Complete recruitments Ensure Participation of CSOs even after SAU
set up Coordinating with CAG for collaborative efforts
Slide 14
Our Sincere Thanks to MORD for guiding and supporting NIRD for
training and handholding through consultants SSAT for sending
volunteers to support CSOs for taking leads in spite of all the
hurdles DRPs and VRPs for their dedicated work Panchayats and
MNREGA functionaries for their support Department of RD for taking
up initiative