Social audit has emerged as a citizen-driven accountability tool. With reference to MGNREGA and the Meghalaya Community Participation Act 2017, evaluate.
Subtopic: Governance · Transparency & Accountability
How to structure your answer
Introduction: Section 17 of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 mandates a social audit by the Gram Sabha at least once every six months; Meghalaya became the first State to enact a comprehensive social-audit law in 2017.
Body: Three dimensions — (i) statutory base — MGNREGA Audit of Scheme Rules 2011 set the procedure; independent State Social Audit Units function across 28 States; Comptroller and Auditor General provides audit framework; (ii) Meghalaya Community Participation and Public Services Social Audit Act 2017 extended the model to all government schemes; (iii) gaps — under-staffed SSAUs, low Action Taken on findings, contractor capture at panchayat level.
Way forward / Conclusion: Statutory autonomy and budgetary security for SSAUs, time-bound Action Taken Reports under Section 17(3) MGNREGA, and replication of the Meghalaya 2017 Act in other States would deepen social-audit accountability.
Written within the word limit
144 words · target 150 words · 9 min
Introduction: Section 17 of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 mandates a Gram Sabha social audit at least every six months; Meghalaya became the first State to enact a comprehensive social-audit law in 2017.
Body: Three dimensions evaluate the tool. First, statutory base — MGNREGA Audit of Scheme Rules 2011 set the procedure; State Social Audit Units function across 28 States; the Comptroller and Auditor General's Auditing Standards 2016 frame the methodology, building on the Andhra Pradesh SSAAT model. Second, the Meghalaya Community Participation and Public Services Social Audit Act 2017 extended the model to all government schemes, rooted in the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan jan-sunwai tradition of 1990s Rajasthan. Third, gaps — under-staffed SSAUs, low Action Taken on findings, and contractor capture at panchayat level.
Conclusion: Statutory autonomy and budgetary security for SSAUs, time-bound Action Taken Reports under Section 17(3) MGNREGA, and replication of the Meghalaya 2017 Act will deepen accountability.
What an examiner expects to see
- Section 17 MGNREGA 2005 — six-monthly Gram Sabha social audit
- MGNREGA Audit of Scheme Rules 2011
- State Social Audit Units in 28 States
- Meghalaya Community Participation and Public Services Social Audit Act 2017
- CAG Auditing Standards for Social Audit 2016
- Andhra Pradesh Society for Social Audit, Accountability and Transparency model
- Right to Information Act 2005 — Section 4 proactive disclosure complement
Concrete cases, schemes and judgments
- MGNREGA Section 17 social audit
- Meghalaya Social Audit Act 2017
- Andhra Pradesh SSAAT model
- CAG Auditing Standards 2016
- Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan, Rajasthan jan-sunwai 1990s