~o . .YI-1301S/2!2012-MG:\'R£GA- VIIGovernment of India

Ministrv of Rural Development(XIG.'IREGA Division)

****Krishi Bhawan. New Deihi.

Dated the 5th July. 20::2

ToThe Principal Secretary/SecretaryDepartment of Rural Development.

(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<1 June, 2012. Social Audits enable the rural

communities to monitor and analyse the quality, durability and usefulness of

\1G, 'REGA works as we ll as mobilize awareness and enforcement of their

rights. To ensure efficient organisation of Social Audits by Gram Parichayats ,

the fol iowing may kindly be e nsure d>

1. Selection of master trainers/resource persons: Each State will identify and select

adequate number of master trainers. resource persons as per the State's requirement

who will monitor and train District Resource Persons (DRPs), Block Resource

Persons (BRPs) and Village Resource Persons (VRPs). The master trainers need to

have exposure to :\10_ -REGA.. The master trainers could be drawn from activists.

acadernia, retired C1V:: servants with impeccable record and civil SOCiety organizations

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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.

A fully functional SocietylDirectorate for Social Audit would have a structure

shown below:

Director / CEO

I Social Audit Consultant II

Joint Director, Dy. Director, I Dy. Director, MI5,

ISocial AuditAdministration &

I Monitoring & EvaluationFinance

I II I IState Team

MonitorsAsstt. Asstt. Asstt.

7 -10 Asst. Asst.Director Director Director, Director, Director,

I Admn. Finance MI5 Monitoring Evaluation

District ResourcePersons

1-2/district

IBlock Resource

Persons2-3/Block

IVillage Resource

Persons4-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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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.

~'\<,~3q\0t l"" \Y

\" vt.to to &-T~ ~~CN-\C)

~PA-') ~ ~W~

Yours faithfully,

~~h~ s {t\IL(S P vashisht~)Director (MGNREGA)

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