The Meghalaya Society for Social Audit and Transparency (MSSAT) will conduct social audit for the financial year 2024-2025 beginning from July 29.
The social audit is carried out with an aim to ensure transparency, accountability, and effectiveness in the implementation of various government schemes across the state.
The schemes to be covered under the social audit are the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) which includes components under the IGNOAPS, IGNDPS, IGNWPS & NFBS, Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana – Gramin (PMAY-G), Sarva Shiksha Scheme (SSS), Public Distribution Scheme (PDS), Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS & PMMVY), Fifteen Finance Commission (XVFC), Poshan Abhiyan (PM Poshan Shakti Nirman), National Health Mission (NHM), National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) and Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U).
A press release from the society informed that the state had the Meghalaya Community Participation and Public Services Social Audit Act, 2017, which is the country’s first and only legislation mandating social audits for schemes and programmes implemented by various Government departments under Schedule 1 of the Act. These include Education, Health, Forest & Environment, Power, Water & Sanitation, Employment & Skilling, Roads, Agriculture, Community and Rural Development, Security, Planning, Border, Food Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs and Social Welfare.
The social audit process is initiated with a departmental meeting, the creation of the social audit calendar, progresses through village-level social audits, door to door verifications, site-verifications, institutional verification, focus group discussions, social audit gram sabha and culminates in social audit public hearings at the block level, wherein during these social audit public hearings, the identified social audit findings and issues are reported to the relevant officials, prompting necessary actions to address the concerns raised, which will then be submitted to the office of the MSSAT as Action Taken Reports (ATR).
The MSSAT will then submit the Annual Social Audit Report to the government.
The society said that the audit process plays a crucial role in ensuring that the government schemes reach beneficiaries effectively and that the allocated funds for these programmes are used efficiently. “By promoting transparency and accountability, the Social Audit involves local communities and stakeholders in the monitoring and evaluation of these initiatives, thus fostering an environment of trust and integrity,” it said.
The MSSAT has urged the active participation of all stakeholders, including the beneficiaries, the general public and the implementing agencies.
