Social Audit of MGNREGA Works.

To
The Principal Secretary/Secretary
Department of Rural Development.
~o . .YI-1301S/2!2012-MG:\'R£GA- VII
Government of India
Ministrv of Rural Development
(XIG.'IREGA Division)
****
Krishi Bhawan. New Deihi.
Dated the 5th July. 20::2
(A A • 1 P , h M h 1
" ssam, nILmacna . races, , eg a aya,
Nagaland, .vlanipur, Mizoram. Tripura & Sikkim)
Subject: Social Audit of :VIG:\REGS Works.
SIr Madam.
.A me etinz chaired by Additional Secretary (RD) reviewed progress of
social audit of works implemented under \fG:;REGS [:1 ~ North-Eastern Slates
and Sik k im. at Shillong on 22:1

having experience of working for the rights and entitlement of the people and should
possess good communication and interpersonal skills. These persons may be
identified through a combination of transparent search process and advertisement
selected based on a screening process. The master trainerslresource persons will not"
be employees. But they may be paid suitable remunerationlhonorarium to attract the
best talent.
The States may complete the process to identify and select resource pool of
master trainers/resource persons within a month.
2. Identification of Block for pilot social audit: The States will simultaneously
identify a block in any district for conducting pilot social audit. The block could be
the highest spending in respect of MGNREGS. An expert group on Social Audit
identified by the Ministry of Rural Development will provide technical assistance to
the States in the conduct of pilot social audit. Thereafter, the States would develop a
plan for up-scaling it to the whole State.
3. Training of Master trainers at NIRD: Ministry of Rural development will organize
training of master trainers at NIRD, Guwahati and SIRD, Jorethang (Sikkim) assisted
by SSAAT, Hyderabad. Sikkirn could serve as a resource State for all the North
Eastern States. The training will consist of classroom lectures and hands-on
component (practical training) in the field. The training of master trainers from all
the north eastern States will be completed within two months.
4. Preparation of State specific social audit manuals: NIRD, Guw~hati will prepare
quality manualslhandbooks on conduct of social audit in consultation with Ministry of
Rural Development and Society for Social Audit Accountability and Transparency
(SSAAT). The manuals already developed would be the basis and would be
contextualized to suit local needs.
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5. Setting up of Social Audit Unit: The States would set up an independent Social
Audit Unit within next two months. The State could establish either a registered
society or a directorate to facilitate the conduct of social audit. Andhra Pradesh, for
example, has set up an independent society, "Society for Social Audit, Accountability
and Transparency (SSAA T)". States like Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh have set up
directorates for this purpose.
shown below:
A fully functional SocietylDirectorate for Social Audit would have a structure
Joint Director,
Social Audit
Director / CEO
I Social Audit Consultant
Dy. Director, I Dy. Director, MI5,
Administration &
Monitoring & Evaluation
Finance
I
I I
I I I
State Team
Monitors
Asst. Asst.
Asstt. Asstt. Asstt.
7 -10
Director Director Director, Director, Director,
I Admn. Finance MI5 Monitoring Evaluation
District Resource
Persons
1-2/district
I
Block Resource
Persons
2-3/Block
I
Village Resource
Persons
4-S/GP
Director: The Director/Chief Executive Officer of the SocietylDirectorate could
be a person who has worked in the social sector for the rights of the people for at least 15
years. A Search Committee could be constituted by the State to identify and select the
Director/CEO of the Social Audit Unit. The Director shall be of the same rank or senior
to Director, MGNREGS.
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I
I
I

The core functions of the Director/CEO are-
a) To manage the day to day functioning of the Society I Directorate;
b) To ensure that all policy level decisions related to the Society I Directorate are
implemented;
c) Undertake all activities necessary to fulfill the objectives and vision of the Society
I Directorate;
d) To recruit staff, award consulting contracts and incur necessary expenditures
pertaining to these activities;
e) To take disciplinary action over staff as per the terms of contract.
f) To convene Governing Body and Executive Committee meetings at stipulated
intervals and maintain all minutes, records and registers of the Society I
Directorate;
g) To interact arid communicate with all government officials to fulfill the objectives
of the Society I Directorate.
Social Audit Consultant (SAC) - Could be hired on a consultancy basis from rights
based organizations with at least 8 years experience of working on Social Audit I
Accountability issues, to work in close collaboration with the Director. The SAC will not
be a government official.
Functions of the Social Audit Consultant could include-
a) To advice and assist the Director, Social Audit Directorate I Society in day to day
functioning;
b) To advice the Director on policy direction and design issues in conducting social
audits;
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partnerships between the social audit directorate / society and civil society
organizations;
d) To bring in grassroots expertise and experience in the design and development of
social audit manuals, rules, guidelines and training modules;
e) To guide the training process for conducting social audits;
f) To develop research and communication agendas.
Joint / Deputy Directors - Could be officers of sufficient seniority (with minimum 10
years in service), drawn from the State Administrative Services.
Core functions of the Joint / Deputy Directors could include:
(a) Joint Director - Administration - Will assist the Director to oversee the office
management;
(b) Deputy Director - MIS, Monitoring & Evaluation - Will assist the Director to
oversee the field management.
State Team Monitors (STMs): At the State level, the Social Audit Unit could have 7 to
10 state team monitors (contractual workers) to be hired on. a consultancy basis having
experience of 8 to 10 years of working with civil society organizations. The number
could vary depending upon the size of State/Districts. Each state team monitor could be
given the task oflooking after 2 to 3 districts (up to 5 districts in case of small districts).
The role of state team monitors will be to monitor and train District Resource Persons
(DRP), Block Resource Persons (BRP) and Gram Panchayat Resource Persons.
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Functions of the State Team Monitors could include:-
a) To oversee every aspect of the social audit process from developing the Social
Audit schedule to monitoring the follow up of issues identified through the audit;
b) To monitor and train State and District Resource Persons and village level
resource persons;
c) To facilitate the conduct of and submit reports on the social audit m their
respective districts;
d) To report and conduct investigations m case of any lapses in the social audit
process;
e) To liaise with district level officials and civil society organizations on different
aspects of the social audit process to elicit their partnership and support;
f) To identify potential candidates for positions of STM's as well as DRP's,
following the recruitment policy of the Society / Directorate;
g) To undertake any other relevant administrative functions.
District Resource Persons (DRPs): Each district will require 1 to 2 DRPs to be hired on
consultancy basis with at least 5 to 8 years of experience at the grass root level on
people's issues. The function of DRPs will be to identify and train block and GP level
resource persons and anchor the Social Audit Team of the district. DRPs may also be
selected from VRPs who have completed three social audits as VRPs.
Block Resource Persons (BRPs): Each block may require 2 to 3 BRPs who may be
intermediate or graduates with minimum 3 to 5 years of experience and 3 years of grass
root level experience. The BRPs will identify and train GP level resource persons and
guide them during the Social Audit verification process.
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/// Village Resource Persons (VRPs): Each GP may need 4 to 5 Village Resource Persons
(VRP), who will be basically MGNREGA workers and must be literate. The VRPs shall
be trained in verifying records.
The Village Resource Persons deployed for Social Audit shall verify:
(i) The Muster Rolls, entry and payments made in the specified time period by
contacting the wage seekers, whose names are entered in such mater rolls.
(ii) The work-site and assess the quantity with reference to records and also quality
of work done.
(iii) The cash book, bank statements and other financial records to verify the
genuineness of financial reporting.
(iv) The invoices, bills, vouchers or other related records used for procurement of
materials to testify that the procurement was made as per the procedures laid
down and was economical.
(v) Any other payment made by the Implementing Agency from the funds of the
Scheme.
The aforesaid numbers of DRPs, BRPs and VRPs may vary depending upon the
expenditure under MGNREGA, number of workers and worksites requiring verification
and the geographical spread and terrain of the area.
These guidelines, it is hoped would provide the necessary framework to enable the
states to put in place an effective Social Audit Directorate / Society at the state-level
which would then ensure that necessary social audits are carried out and follow up action
initiated on the basis of these social audits.
~'\