Social Audit
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Social Audit 1Kurian Thomas Introduction Governments are facing an ever‐growing demand to be more accountable and socially responsible and the people are becoming more assertive about their rights to be informed and to influence governmentsʹ decision‐making processes. Faced with these vociferous demands, the executive and the legislature are looking for new ways to evaluate their performance. Civil society organisations are also undertaking ʺSocial Auditsʺ to monitor and verify the social performance claims of the organisations and institutions. Social Audit is a tool with which government departments can plan, manage and measure non‐financial activities and monitor both internal and external consequences of the department/organisation’s social and commercial operations. It is an instrument of social accountability for an organisation. In other words, Social Audit may be defined as an in‐depth scrutiny and analysis of the working of any public utility vis‐à‐vis its social relevance. Social rdAudit gained significance especially after the 73 Amendment of the Constitution relating to Panchayat Raj Institutions. Purpose of the Social Audit This tool is designed to be a handy, easy to use reference that not only answers basic questions about Social Audit, reasons for conducting Social Audit, and most importantly gives easy‐to‐follow steps for all those interested in using Social Audit ...
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SocialAudit1 KurianThomasIntroductionGovernmentsarefacinganever‐growingdemandtobemoreaccountableandsociallyresponsibleandthepeoplearebecomingmoreassertiveabouttheirrightstobeinformedandtoinfluencegovernmentsʹdecision‐makingprocesses.Facedwiththesevociferousdemands,theexecutiveandthelegislaturearelookingfornewwaystoevaluatetheirperformance.Civilsocietyorganisationsarealsoundertaking ʺSocialAuditsʺtomonitorandverifythesocialperformanceclaimsoftheorganisationsandinstitutions.SocialAuditisatoolwithwhichgovernmentdepartmentscanplan,manageandmeasurenon‐ financialactivitiesandmonitorbothinternalandexternalconsequencesofthedepartment/organisation’ssocialandcommercialoperations.Itisaninstrumentofsocialaccountabilityforanorganisation.Inotherwords,SocialAuditmaybedefinedasanin‐depthscrutinyandanalysisoftheworkingofanypublicutilityvis‐à‐visitssocialrelevance.Socialrd Auditgainedsignificanceespeciallyafterthe73AmendmentoftheConstitutionrelatingtoPanchayatRajInstitutions.PurposeoftheSocialAuditThistoolisdesignedtobeahandy,easytousereferencethatnotonlyanswersbasicquestionsaboutSocialAudit,reasonsforconductingSocialAudit,andmostimportantlygiveseasy‐to‐ followstepsforallthoseinterestedinusingSocialAudit.ThepurposeofconductingSocialAuditisnottofindfaultwiththeindividualfunctionariesbuttoassesstheperformanceintermsofsocial,environmentalandcommunitygoalsoftheorganisation.Itisawayofmeasuringtheextenttowhichanorganisationlivesuptothesharedvaluesandobjectivesithascommitteditselfto.Itprovidesanassessmentoftheimpactofanorganisationʹsnon‐financialobjectivesthroughsystematicandregularmonitoring,basedontheviewsofitsstakeholders.SalientFeaturesTheforemostprincipleofSocialAuditistoachievecontinuouslyimprovedperformancesinrelationtothechosensocialobjectives.EightspecifickeyprincipleshavebeenidentifiedfromSocialAuditingpracticesaroundtheworld.Theyare:1.Multi‐Perspective/Polyvocal.Aimstoreflecttheviews(voices)ofallthosepeople(stakeholders)involvedwithoraffectedbytheorganisation/department/programme.2.Comprehensive.Aimsto(eventually)reportonallaspectsoftheorganisationʹsworkandperformance.3.Participatory.Encouragesparticipationofstakeholdersandsharingoftheirvalues.1 Kurian Thomas, Centre for Good Governance
4.Multidirectional.Stakeholdersshareandgivefeedbackonmultipleaspects.5.Regular.Aimstoproducesocialaccountsonaregularbasissothattheconceptandthepracticebecomeembeddedinthecultureoftheorganisationcoveringalltheactivities.6.Comparative.Providesameans,whereby,theorganisationcancompareitsownperformanceeachyearandagainstappropriateexternalnormsorbenchmarks;andprovideforcomparisonswithorganisationsdoingsimilarworkandreportinginsimilarfashion.7.Verification.Ensuresthatthesocialaccountsareauditedbyasuitablyexperiencedpersonoragencywithnovestedinterestintheorganisation.8.Disclosure.Ensuresthattheauditedaccountsaredisclosedtostakeholdersandthewidercommunityintheinterestsofaccountabilityandtransparency.ThefollowingfiguredepictstheprinciplesofSocialAuditanduniversalvalues:
ThesearethepillarsofSocialAudit,wheresocio‐cultural,administrative,legalanddemocraticsettingsformthefoundationforoperationalisingSocialAudit.TheSocialAuditprocessisintendedasameansforsocialengagement,transparencyandcommunicationofinformation,leadingtogreateraccountabilityofdecision‐makers,representatives,managersandofficials.Theunderlyingideasaredirectlylinkedtoconceptsofdemocracyandparticipation.TheapplicationofSocialAuditatthevillagelevelholdstremendouspotentialforcontributingtogoodlocalgovernanceandincreasedtransparencyandaccountabilityofthelocalbodies.WhocanusetheTool?SocialAuditToolkitcanbeusedbygovernmentdepartments,privateenterprisesaswellasthecivilsociety.However,thescopeintermsofauditboundarieswouldbespecifictothatofa
governmentdepartment,privateorganisation,anNGOoracommunity.Incaseofprivateorganisations,theemphasismaybeonbalancingfinancialviabilitywithitsimpactonthecommunityandenvironment.IncaseofNGOs,inadditiontousingthemtomaximisetheimpactoftheirinterventionprogramme,theycouldalsobeusedaseffectiveadvocacytools.DependingontheresourcesavailableSocialAuditcouldbecomprehensive,state‐wide,andcanalsobelocalisedtothecommunitylevel.ApplyingtheToolThesixstepsofSocialAuditingare:1. Preparatoryactivities2. Definingauditboundariesandidentifyingstakeholders3. Socialaccountingandbook‐keeping4. Preparingandusingsocialaccounts5. Socialauditanddissemination6. FeedbackandinstitutionalisationofsocialauditThefirsttwostepsarecriticalwhenadepartmentdecidestoincorporatesocialaccounting,socialbook‐keepingandsocialauditing.Thedepartmentneedstolookatitsvision,goals,currentpracticesandactivitiestoidentifythosethatareamenabletosocialauditingpurposes.Smallworkgroups(say,sevenpersons)aretobeformedwhichwouldspendabouttwodayseachtolistdownthesocialvision,corevalues,socialobjectivesandmapstakeholdersandtheirinvolvement.Ensureinvolvementofvariousfunctionarieswithduerepresentationtogender,whileformingsmallgroups.Thesmallgroupsshouldhaveaccesstoprojectdocuments,processdocumentation,departmentguidelinesandpolicynotes.Thenextactivitywouldbetoassignthetaskofmatchingtheactivitieswiththesocialobjectivesandidentifyinggaps.Thisagaincouldbecarriedoutbyasmallgroupdrawnfromthemanagerialcadreandexecution/implementationgroupsatthefieldlevel.Allthisinformationwouldbethenlookedinto;todevelopaplanforSocialAuditing,includingwhowouldberesponsibleinthedepartment,monitoringandidentifyingtheresourcesrequired.Thisresponsibilityagaincouldbegiventoasmallgroupofthreeindividuals.Stakeholderconsultation,involvingdepartmentfunctionariesandcivilsociety,wouldbetheforumforsharingtheSocialAuditplan.ThisconsultationwouldclarifytheissuesimportantforSocialAuditing,roleofstakeholders,aswellascommitmentsfromthem.Theoutcomeoftheconsultationwouldbefedintotheprocessofdetailingout:theindicatorstobemonitored;whichexistingrecordsaretobeused;andhowadditionalinformationwouldbecollected.Thenextkeystepistofixresponsibilitiesforvariousactivities.Theactivitiesincludepreparingformatsforsocialaccount‐keeping,compilationofdataandreportingthesameonamonthlybasis(internaluse).Managersofthedepartment/programmescanusethisinformationformonitoringaswellasprovidingfeedbackforimprovingperformanceandovercomingbottlenecks.Ideally,SocialAuditshouldbeconductedregularly,andthemethodshouldbedevelopedthroughaparticipatoryrelationshipbetweentheauditorandtheorganisations/departments.Thefollowingfiguredepictsthedetailedstepsfollowedinthesocialauditcycle.
InadditiontousingtheToolkitexercisesintherightsequence,itisvitalthattheprocessisparticipativeandinclusive.Thecyclestartswith‘decidingtodoaSocialAudit’andattheendofeachyearplannedtargetsandactualachievementsaretobecompared.ExperimentsinSocialAuditfromVithuraPanchayat,KeralaThedecentralisationrocessinKeralaisuni uenotonlintermsofthefunctionsandfinancestransferredtothelocalself‐overnments.Ithasalsorovidedsco eands acefortrans arencandaccountabilitytothepeopleinamajorway.Duringthisprocess,afewGramaPanchayatshavegonefaraheadofothersinexperimentingwithvariousmechanismsforsocialaudit.Vithurawasonesuchancha atwhichtriedtocreateatrans arentlocalself‐overnances stemwithpeopleʹsparticipation.Rightfromplanformulationtoimplementationandtotheextentofplanmonitoringandevaluationwasentrustedtothepeople.ThekeyforsuccessbehindtheVithuraex erimentwasawelldesi nedor anisationalsetu ,whereeo leʹscommitteeswereformedandmadefunctional.Thedifferentt esofcommitteesthatwereformedare:nei hbourhoodrou sconsistinof50nei hbourinhouses,warddevelo mentcommittees,panchayatlevelacademiccommittees,subjectgroups,panchayatlevelwomenʹscommittee,ancha atlevelmonitorincommittee,childrenʹsforum,eo leʹscommitteesforsocialauditetc.Allthesehads ecificrolestolainthelanninandim lementationsta esofdevelopmentalprogrammes.
ThesocialaccountswereresentedtotheGramaSabhasinrintedform,btheancha ats.ItwasresentedintheGramaSabhainsuchawathatanersoncouldunderstandanduestionanirre ularitintheactivitiesoftheancha ats.ThedifferencewithVithuramodelofsocialauditisthatitisnotanauditaftertheimplementation.Thepeopleʹscommitteesmentionedaboveweregiveninformationabouttheactivitiesregularlyandtheywereem oweredandsu ortedbtheancha atcommitteetomonitortheactivities.Thus,thesecommitteeswereactivethrou houttherocessoflanninandim lementation.ThebasicstructureoftheVithurasocialauditmechanismwasasfollows:1. FromeachGramaSabha,threeersonswereelectedtobeaartoftheancha atlevelsocialauditcommittee.2. Eachonewillbeapartofoneofthesectorgrouplikeproductive,serviceandinfrastructuresectors.3. Thesecommitteesconducttheauditandtheirre ortisresentedintheGramaSabha.4. AlltheofficersofthepanchayatincludingthatofthelinedepartmentswillbepresentintheGramaSabhatocleardoubtswithrelevantdocuments.Thus,astronsocialauditmechanismwasex erimentedatVithura,aGramaPancha atinTrivandrumdistrictofKerala.RisksInvolvedandKeySuccessFactorsThekeytosuccessfulSocialAuditingisinknowingwhichtechniquestouseandinwhatsequence.TheSocialAuditorcanchoosedifferentmethodssoastocapturebothquantitativeandqualitativeinformationfromtherespondent.Itisequallyimportanttoensurethefollow‐upactiontakenontheSocialAuditreportandthereceptivenessofthedepartments/organisationstoadopttherecommendationsintheSocialAuditreport.Thesocialauditorsshouldsuggestmodalitiesforimprovingitsperformancebasedonthefeedbackreceivedfromdifferentstakeholders.Thedetailedworkplanneedstobeidentifiedbythesocialauditorsandthesameshouldbeimplementedattheearliest.References1.SocialAudit:AToolforPerformanceImprovementandOutcomeMeasurement.CentreforGoodGovernance,Hyderabad,2005.2.SocialAuditToolkit ‐3rdEdition,2000,FreeSpreckely,SocialEntreprisePartnership ‐ LocalLivelihoods3.SocialAuditingforSmallOrganisations:AWorkbookforTrainersandPractitioners,JohnPearce,PeterRaynard,andSimonZadekNewEconomicsFoundation,London(1996)4.SocialAuditandAccounting:JohnPearce,CommunityBusinessScotland(CBS)Network(2001)
