Activating Social Audits in Orissa
With the passing of the National Rural Employment Act (NREGA) in 2005, the Government of India established a landmark provision that enables communities to act as watchdogs on local level implementation of the Government's flagship anti-povert...
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Format: | Other Procurement Study |
Language: | English en_US |
Published: |
Washington, DC
2013
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Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2009/11/16532485/activating-social-audits-orissa http://hdl.handle.net/10986/12637 |
Summary: | With the passing of the National Rural
Employment Act (NREGA) in 2005, the Government of India
established a landmark provision that enables communities to
act as watchdogs on local level implementation of the
Government's flagship anti-poverty program. While the
concept of 'social audits' builds on a great deal
of experience in the country, the provisions in the Act have
not been translated into clear guidelines. As a result,
social audits of NREGA have tended to be driven through
'high impact' approaches led by civil society
organizations and have been focused on exposing malpractice
rather than improving implementation. This paper discusses
an initiative by the centre for youth and social development
which sought to explore options to activate the social audit
process in Orissa. The design draws on the provisions of the
Act with a view to developing a sustainable model for the
state. The pilot was conducted in six gram panchayats where
the various stages of preparation, committee formation,
auditing and reporting were developed. The paper highlights
the importance of social audits as an instrument to support
implementation, and in particular of raising awareness and
ensuring clarity regarding the roles of various
stakeholders. Taking this process forward demands a long
term perspective, based on collaboration between the
government and civil society that can develop the capacities
of beneficiaries to ensure effective implementation at the
local level. |
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