Govt to institutionalise social audits in major rural development schemes

Narendra Singh Tomar-led rural development ministry will institutionalize the social audits in major schemes of rural development, starting with the National Social Assistance Programme and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Gramin.

To begin with the ministry has started framing guidelines for conducting social audits for the above two schemes and this will be followed by similar guidelines for all rural schemes.

The ministry is organising a two-day national seminar on social audit of rural development programmes jointly with National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, with an objective to understand the current status of social audits and social audit units and develop plan for roll-out of social audit in other programmes.


The ministry plans to take stock of the current status of social audits and SAUs in terms of independency, funds, issues identified, actions taken etc. and will provide a platform for SAUs to share their experiences of conducting social audit.

Models and best practices in social audit from across states in India and also from other countries will be showcased.

Social Audit is recognized by many, including the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), as a powerful tool to enforce transparency and accountability. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) was the first Act to mandate Social Audits by the Gram Sabha of all the projects taken up in the Gram Panchayat.