.A me e tinz chaired by Additional Secretary (RD) reviewed progress of. communities to monitor and analyse the quality, durability and usefulness of

Transcription

1 ~o..y-1301s/2!2012-mg:\'r GA- V Government of ndia Ministrv of Rural Development (XG.'REGA Division) **** Krishi Bhawan. New Deihi. Dated the 5 th July. 20::2 To The Principal Secretary/Secretary Department of Rural Development. (A A 1 P, h M h 1 " ssam, nlmacna. races,, eg a aya, Nagaland,.vlanipur, Mizoram. Tripura & Sikkim) Subject: Social Audit of :VG:\REGS Works. Sr Madam..A me e tinz chaired by Additional Secretary (RD) reviewed progress of social audit of works implemented under \fg:;regs [:1 ~ North-Eastern Slates and Sik k im. at Shillong on 22:1<1 June, Social Audits enable the rural communities to monitor and analyse the quality, durability and usefulness of \1G, 'REGA works as we ll as mobilize awareness and enforcement of their rights. To ensure efficient organisation of Social Audits by Gram Parichayats, the fol i owing may kindly be e nsure d> 1. Selection of master trainers/resource persons: Each State will identify and select adequate number of master trainers. resource persons as per the State's requirement who will monitor and train District Resource Persons (DRPs), Block Resource Persons (BRPs) and Village Resource Persons (VRPs). The master trainers need to have exposure to :\10_ -REGA.. The master trainers could be drawn from activists. acadernia, retired C1V:: servants with impeccable record and civil SOCiety organizations / / /

2 having experience of working for the rights and entitlement of the people and should possess good communication and interpersonal skills. These persons may be identified through a combination of transparent search process and advertisement selected based on a screening process. The master trainerslresource persons will not" be employees. But they may be paid suitable remunerationlhonorarium to attract the best talent. The States may complete the process to identify and select resource pool of master trainers/resource persons within a month. 2. dentification of Block for pilot social audit: The States will simultaneously identify a block in any district for conducting pilot social audit. The block could be the highest spending in respect of MGNREGS. An expert group on Social Audit identified by the Ministry of Rural Development will provide technical assistance to the States in the conduct of pilot social audit. Thereafter, the States would develop a plan for up-scaling it to the whole State. 3. Training of Master trainers at NRD: Ministry of Rural development will organize training of master trainers at NRD, Guwahati and SRD, Jorethang (Sikkim) assisted by SSAAT, Hyderabad. Sikkirn could serve as a resource State for all the North Eastern States. The training will consist of classroom lectures and hands-on component (practical training) in the field. The training of master trainers from all the north eastern States will be completed within two months. 4. Preparation of State specific social audit manuals: NRD, Guw~hati will prepare quality manualslhandbooks on conduct of social audit in consultation with Ministry of Rural Development and Society for Social Audit Accountability and Transparency (SSAA T). The manuals already developed would be the basis and would be contextualized to suit local needs. 2

3 5. Setting up of Social Audit Unit: The States would set up an independent Social Audit Unit within next two months. The State could establish either a registered society or a directorate to facilitate the conduct of social audit. Andhra Pradesh, for example, has set up an independent society, "Society for Social Audit, Accountability and Transparency (SSAA T)". States like Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh have set up directorates for this purpose. A fully functional SocietylDirectorate for Social Audit would have a structure shown below: Director / CEO Social Audit Consultant Joint Director, Social Audit State District Team Dy. Director, Dy. Director, M5, Administration & Monitoring & Evaluation Finance Monitors Asst. Asst. Asstt. Asstt. Asstt Director Director Director, Director, Director, Admn. Finance M5 Monitoring Evaluation Resource Persons 1-2/district Block Village Resource Persons 2-3/Block Resource Persons 4-S/GP Director: The Director/Chief Executive Officer of the SocietylDirectorate could be a person who has worked in the social sector for the rights of the people for at least 15 years. A Search Committee could be constituted by the State to identify and select the Director/CEO of the Social Audit Unit. The Director shall be of the same rank or senior to Director, MGNREGS. 3

4 The core functions of the Director/CEO area) To manage the day to day functioning of the Society Directorate; b) To ensure that all policy level decisions related to the Society Directorate are implemented; c) Undertake all activities necessary to fulfill the objectives and vision of the Society Directorate; d) To recruit staff, award consulting contracts and incur necessary expenditures pertaining to these activities; e) To take disciplinary action over staff as per the terms of contract. f) To convene Governing Body and Executive Committee meetings at stipulated intervals and maintain all minutes, records and registers of the Society Directorate; g) To interact arid communicate with all government officials to fulfill the objectives of the Society Directorate. Social Audit Consultant (SAC) - Could be hired on a consultancy basis from rights based organizations with at least 8 years experience of working on Social Audit Accountability issues, to work in close collaboration with the Director. The SAC will not be a government official. Functions of the Social Audit Consultant could includea) To advice and assist the Director, Social Audit Directorate Society in day to day functioning; b) To advice the Director on policy direction and design issues in conducting social audits; 4

5 C) 10 uaisou wuu ci vu ::'U,.,lC:Lj U!t:;cllllLclL1Vll.:l Hi Ll.1'-',HUL,", LV '-'H.JU.l.v v..l...l.'-''''uvv partnerships between the social audit directorate / society and civil society organizations; d) To bring in grassroots expertise and experience in the design and development of social audit manuals, rules, guidelines and training modules; e) To guide the training process for conducting social audits; f) To develop research and communication agendas. Joint / Deputy Directors - Could be officers of sufficient seniority (with minimum 10 years in service), drawn from the State Administrative Services. Core functions of the Joint / Deputy Directors could include: (a) Joint Director - Administration - Will assist the Director to oversee the office management; (b) Deputy Director - MS, Monitoring & Evaluation - Will assist the Director to oversee the field management. State Team Monitors (STMs): At the State level, the Social Audit Unit could have 7 to 10 state team monitors (contractual workers) to be hired on. a consultancy basis having experience of 8 to 10 years of working with civil society organizations. The number could vary depending upon the size of State/Districts. Each state team monitor could be given the task oflooking after 2 to 3 districts (up to 5 districts in case of small districts). The role of state team monitors will be to monitor and train District Resource Persons (DRP), Block Resource Persons (BRP) and Gram Panchayat Resource Persons. 5

6 Functions of the State Team Monitors could include:- a) To oversee every aspect of the social audit process from developing the Social Audit schedule to monitoring the follow up of issues identified through the audit; b) To monitor and train State and District Resource Persons and village level resource persons; c) To facilitate the conduct of and submit reports on the social audit m their respective districts; d) To report and conduct investigations m case of any lapses in the social audit process; e) To liaise with district level officials and civil society organizations on different aspects of the social audit process to elicit their partnership and support; f) To identify potential candidates for positions of STM's as well as DRP's, following the recruitment policy of the Society / Directorate; g) To undertake any other relevant administrative functions. District Resource Persons (DRPs): Each district will require 1 to 2 DRPs to be hired on consultancy basis with at least 5 to 8 years of experience at the grass root level on people's issues. The function of DRPs will be to identify and train block and GP level resource persons and anchor the Social Audit Team of the district. DRPs may also be selected from VRPs who have completed three social audits as VRPs. Block Resource Persons (BRPs): Each block may require 2 to 3 BRPs who may be intermediate or graduates with minimum 3 to 5 years of experience and 3 years of grass root level experience. The BRPs will identify and train GP level resource persons and guide them during the Social Audit verification process. 6

7 / // -/ /// Village Resource Persons (VRPs): Each GP may need 4 to 5 Village Resource Persons (VRP), who will be basically MGNREGA be trained in verifying records. workers and must be literate. The VRPs shall The Village Resource Persons deployed for Social Audit shall verify: (i) The Muster Rolls, entry and payments made in the specified time period by contacting the wage seekers, whose names are entered in such mater rolls. (ii) The work-site and assess the quantity with reference to records and also quality of work done. (iii) The cash book, bank statements and other financial records to verify the genuineness of financial reporting. (iv) The invoices, bills, vouchers or other related records used for procurement of materials to testify that the procurement was made as per the procedures laid down and was economical. (v) Any other payment made by the mplementing Agency from the funds of the Scheme. The aforesaid numbers of DRPs, BRPs and VRPs may vary depending upon the expenditure under MGNREGA, number of workers and worksites requiring verification and the geographical spread and terrain of the area. These guidelines, it is hoped would provide the necessary framework to enable the states to put in place an effective Social Audit Directorate / Society at the state-level which would then ensure that necessary social audits are carried out and follow up action initiated on the basis of these social audits. Yours faithfully, ~'\<,~3q\ 0t l"" \Y \" vt.to to &-T~ ~~CN-\C) 7 ~~h~ s {t\l (S P vashisht~) Director (MGNREGA) ~PA-') ~ ~W~