The 1st meeting of the Social Audit Advisory Body (SAAB) took place recently, at Dr Ambedkar International Centre, New Delhi.
About Social Audit Advisory Body (SAAB):
- SAAB has been set up in National Institute of Social Defence (NISD).
- This advisory body, a first of its kind, has been established to guide the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment in institutionalizing social audits for its various schemes.
- Representatives from key ministries and academic institutions, including Health & Family Welfare, Persons with Disabilities, Women and Child Development, Rural Development, National Institute of Rural Development, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Delhi School of Social Work, and Indian Institute of Public Administration, are members of SAAB.
- It is chaired by the Secretary of the Department of Social Justice & Empowerment
National Resource Cell for Social Audit (NRCSA):
- The Department of Social Justice and Empowerment has established the National Resource Cell for Social Audit (NRCSA) to ensure social audits through dedicated Social Audit Units at the state level.
What are social audits?
- A social audit is a process that involves the systematic evaluation and assessment of an organization’s or government’s performance in terms of its social and ethical impact and responsibilities.
- The primary objective of a social audit is to measure and understand the organization’s contributions to the well-being of society, including its social, environmental, and ethical performance.
Objectives:
- Accountability: Social audits aim to enhance transparency and accountability by evaluating and communicating an organization’s impact on society.
- Compliance: Ensure compliance with social, ethical, and environmental standards, laws, and regulations.
- Stakeholder Engagement: Involve and engage stakeholders in the assessment process to gather diverse perspectives.
Key features of Social Audit:
- Fact finding not fault finding.
- Opportunity for awareness building on entitlements and processes.
- Creating the space and platform for dialogue among various levels of stakeholders.
- Timely grievance redressal.
- Strengthening the democratic process and institutions.
- Building people’s pressure for better implementation of programmes.
Scope:
- Social audits can cover a wide range of areas, including labor practices, community development, environmental sustainability, human rights, and overall corporate social responsibility (CSR).
Stakeholder Involvement:
- Inclusive Approach: Social audits often involve stakeholders such as employees, customers, local communities, NGOs, and other relevant groups.
- Participatory Process: Stakeholders are actively engaged in the audit process, providing insights, feedback, and perspectives.
Standards and Criteria:
- Social audits are guided by established standards and criteria, which can include international frameworks, industry-specific guidelines, and local regulations.
Independence:
- To ensure objectivity and credibility, social audits are often conducted by independent third-party organizations or internal audit teams with a degree of separation from the area being audited.
Benefits:
- It informs and educates people about their rights and entitlements.
- It provides a collective platform for people to ask queries, express their needs and grievances.
- It promotes people’s participation in all stages of implementation of programmes.
- It brings about transparency and accountability in government schemes.
- It strengthens decentralised governance.
Examples:
- Social audits can be applied in various contexts, such as supply chain audits to assess labour practices, environmental audits to evaluate ecological impacts, and community development audits to gauge the organization’s contributions to local communities.
Legal and Regulatory Context:
- In some cases, social audits may be mandated by laws or industry regulations, especially in sectors with significant social and environmental implications.
Implementation in India:
- Meghalaya became the first State in the country to pass a social audit legislation, the Meghalaya Community Participation and Public Services Social Audit Act.
- This Act mandated social audits across 21 schemes and 11 departments.
- The Audit of Scheme Rules, 2011 were prepared by Ministry of Rural Development in consultation with the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India.
- These rules are also called the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Audit of Schemes Rules, 2011.
- These rules define the process of social audit and responsibilities of the Social Audit Unit (SAU), state government and the field functionaries of MGNREGA, to be followed across the country.
Ref: Source
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