In this final episode of MGNREGA, we shall look into an important aspect of the scheme which defies the naysayers who complain of MGNREGA funds being misappropriated by the middleman and hence against an central scheme pertaining to involvement in financially consuming job schemes.
Since Independence, thousands of crores of rupees are spent by the central and state governments and various national agencies for social development programmes. However, the impact it has made is below the expectation. Huge gaps between the desired impact and the actual impact warrant the need to think deeply about their failures.This calls for the introduction of social audit to eliminate loopholes of programme/scheme implementation. Social auditing values the voices of stakeholders, including marginalized/poor groups whose voices are rarely heard, and influences the governance.
With a view to plugging the loopholes, social audit has been integrated
into the MGNREGS. Fundamental objectives of social audit under MGNREGS are to ensure that the activity or project designed and implemented in a manner suitable for the prevailing (local) conditions reflect the priorities and preferences of those affected by it appropriately and serve public interest. Developing a sense of ownership amongst the beneficiaries and empowering the communities through the MGNREGS are also its objectives. Social audit includes the quantity and quality of works in relation to the expenses incurred, disbursement made, number of works/materials used and also selection of works and location of works. Thus, the aim is effective implementation and control of irregularities. Coupled with the Right to Information Act, social audit acts as check bulb in revealing and ultimately reducing corruption, malpractices and deviations.
The main objective of social audit is to ensure public accountability in the implementation of projects, laws and policies (GOI,MoRD,2013). The other objectives include:
1. Assessing the physical and financial gaps between needs and resources
available for local development;
2. Creating awareness among beneficiaries and providers of local social
and productive services;
3. Increasing efficacy and efficiency of local development programmes;
4. Scrutiny of various policy decisions, keeping in view stakeholder
interests and priorities particularly of rural poor and etc.
Source: https://nehu.ac.in/public/downloads/Journals/NEHU-JOURNAL-Jan-Dec-2017-A3.pdf
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