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Page 1
Society for Social Audit, Accountability & Transparency
(SSAAT)
Annual Report 2012-13
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SSAAT’s VISION & MISSION
To promote empowerment of rural communities directly
benefiting from welfare schemes such as MGNREGS and
minimising leakage and wastage of public funds.
To help improve quality of government programmes and
schemes in terms of its efficacy, local appropriateness, and
achieve the social objective of developing a sense of
ownership amongst the beneficiaries of these programmes
and schemes.
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Acknowledgement
This report has been put together by the staff of SSAAT. I would like to
thank each and every one of them for their contribution. I would also like
to thank the field staff of SSAAT for all the efforts that they put in and the
odds that they face bravely while doing the Social Audits. If it wasn't for
them, SSAAT would not be able to make the difference that it does today
in the implementation of welfare schemes to the lives of the rural
community.
Sowmya Kidambi,
Director, SSAAT
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Chairman’s Executive Summary
Journey So Far & The Challenges Ahead
The Government of Andhra Pradesh is privileged to be associated with some of the most
respected social activists and civil servants in the country on the Governing Body of SSAAT.
In the last 5 years, AP in general and SSAAT in particular, gained enormously by the
guidance that all of you have given. I wish that this association continues for the benefit of
programmes and schemes’ implementation, and through that, the rural poor of the state.
This five year journey is neither too short not too long, but certainly very exciting. We had
our moments of elation when the social audits could contribute to improving the programme;
and moments of depression when big scandals have been brought to light. A five year run is
a good enough period to look back and see where we stand and figure out the path ahead. I
hope this Governing Body will deliberate on the future of social audits not only here but in
the country as a whole.
This period has seen many successes and challenges. The successes that we have seen are:
a) Institutionalisation of the system of social audits. They are now accepted everywhere
and by everyone. In many cases, people are demanding for social audits.
b) The system of reading out social audit reports in Gram Sabha has stabilised. The
attendance has increased and this has contributed to spreading of awareness.
c) The entire process of social audit has got a statutory sanction through the AP
Promotion of Social Audit and Prevention of Corrupt Practices Act 2012.
d) A very committed, competent cadre has been built up under the leadership of Ms
Sowmya Kidambi, Director, SSAAT.
The challenges that we are facing are equally daunting. I am sure all of them will be debated
in the meeting.
a) Backlogs and schedule: Despite increasing the number of DRPs, the backlogs are still
continuing. We are under pressure, but unable to complete social audits within six
months from the date of completion of work. This problem is accentuated by the
stoppage of works during social audit by the field staff, leading to reluctance on the
part of implementation agencies to have social audits in the peak work season.
b) Meeting other demands: The scope of the programme is increasing with more
departments calling for social audits. That is going to mount more pressure on the
social auditors and would also mean more time required for each audit.
c) Concurrent social audits: We have decided to do wall-writing in all GPs. This was
done in about 1/3rd
of the state and was stopped since the administrative costs are
increasing beyond reach. We need to look for strategies for promoting concurrent
social audit.
d) Outcome audit: Apart from an entitlement and expenditure audit, we need to promote
outcome audit, to check whether the fruits of the works have gone to the rural poor or
not. This would require rethinking on our current formats and the mode of conducting
the social audits.
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e) Capacity building: We have managed to train a large number of youths in conducting
social audits. But how to build their capacities is a matter that merits discussion. We
must ensure that the fundamentals of social audit should be carried into any walk of
life that they may go into.
f) At the senior level, we need to find competent persons who have the right attitude,
experience, competence and a pro-people outlook. The post of SDS (Social
Development Specialist) would need to be filled up after 30th
June and we need to
identify a suitable person from an activist background.
g) Effective follow up: We need to strengthen the system that would go into details on
each social audit observations and punish people who are found guilty. Since the same
implementation machinery is doing this work, it is leading to delays and many times,
easy acquittals. The Special Courts are sanctioned, but only one is set up so far; others
stuck in High Court on procedural issues. While we try to resolve them, we need to
find measures that would allow better follow up of the social audit observations. The
systems for recovery of money determined as misappropriated are yet to be stabilised.
h) Database and data mining: The current system for data entry is not working, as the
challenges and volumes of data are daunting. We need to develop in-house capacities
to address this matter. The data mining systems are to be streamlined and used for
throw up information for use in the decision-making.
I am sure the discussion in the Governing Body and the decisions that you take today would
have bearing on the future of social audit here and elsewhere in the country. We would look
forward to your guidance on various issues related to the conduct of social audits.
R. Subrahmanyam
Chairman, SSAAT
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Agenda for the 5th Governing Body Meeting of SSAAT
Please refer to Annexure I for Minutes of the Meeting of the Last GB and Action Taken on the resolutions)
20th
June, 2013
10:00 A.M-10:15
A.M
Welcoming the GB Members and formal Introduction of Special Invitees
New developments in MGNREGS –
- Demand Capture / Unemployment Allowance / Delay Wages Compensation
10:15 A.M-11:30
A.M Progress Report in the conduct of Social Audits-
- Social Audits conducted since the last GB – MGNREGS/SSP & AABY /
IWMP / MDMS (Pilot)
- Experiences related to social audits of schemes other than the MGNREGS
- Main observations and trends
- Challenges faced in conducting audits once every 6 months in MGNREGS
- Re-Organization of SSAAT
11:30 A.M –
11:45 A.M Tea Break
11:45 A.M –
12:30 P.M Improving the Social Audit system –
- Role of Observers (identifying people from civil society organizations,
training for existing observers)
- Linking Quality Control wing with Social Audit
- Culpability of officials for not handing over records
- Filling up the existing vacancies of the DRPs / SRPs
- Identifying good DRPs based on the mobilization of people to attend the
gram-sabha
12:30 P.M – 1:30
P.M Post Social Audit Follow up Mechanisms & Processes (Progress since last
GB)
- Disciplinary cases status
- Functioning of the Mobile court - No. of cases filed and convictions
- Categorization of cases – “A” & “B” category
- Challenges in filing cases
- Vigilance Wing Issues
1:30 P.M-2:30
P.M Lunch
2:30 P.M-3:15
P.M Data Related issues-
- Onsite data entry delays, building an in-house capacity for data entry,
ensuring the quality of social audit reports
- Data Analysis based on the Social Audit Reports (ppt)
- Current Data Analysis – tagging DTF paras and ATR paras
3:15 P.M – 4:00
P.M Capacity Building –
- VSA’s Grading
- 21 day training of VSAs in APARD
- Identifying 100 Resource Persons from SRPs and DRPs to train the VSAs in
the field
- Future Role of SSAAT at the National Level in Capacity Building
4:00 P.M-5:00
P.M SSAAT Related issues - -Setting up pay-committee
- Recruitment of DRPs through C-SATA
- Medical claims for the year 2012-13
-Insurance Scheme for employees to be followed from 2013 onwards
-Ex-Gratia for employees
-Issues to be placed in the GB for approval & ratification
5:00 P.M-5:30
P.M
Closing Comments
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Contents
Chairman’s Executive Summary .................................................................................................. 7
Agenda for the 5th
Governing Body Meeting of SSAAT ............................................................. 9
Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 13
The progress since the last GB is listed below............................................................................ 16
Progress of Social Audit ............................................................................................................... 18
I. Main trends noticed based on the social audit data between 2011-12 and 2012-13: . 18
II. Backlog of Social Audit – ................................................................................................ 21
III. Re-Organisation of SSAAT ............................................................................................ 22
IV. Progress of the Post Social Audit Follow-Up ................................................................ 24
V. Data Related Issues ......................................................................................................... 28
VI. Data Ware-House ............................................................................................................ 29
VII. Data Analysis ................................................................................................................... 30
VIII. Capacity Building and Recruitment Innovations ......................................................... 31
IX. Synergy with the Accountant General’s Office ................................................................ 32
X. Budget .................................................................................................................................. 33
XI. Welfare Initiatives for SSAAT Staff .................................................................................. 34
Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 35
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Page 13
Introduction
In year 2012-13, SSAAT entered its 5th
year as an independent organisation set up by the
Department of Rural Development to carry out non-partisan social audits of the MGNREGS.
SSAAT has extended its work to audit schemes such as the Social Security Pensions (SSP),
Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana (AABY), Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP)
and has also taken up the social audit of the Mid-Day Meals on a pilot basis in two districts in
Andhra Pradesh1.
In the last five years, SSAAT has grown massively in size from an organisation with an
overall strength of 488 people to a current strength of 1373 people. There are 1060 District
Resource Persons (DRPs) posts, out of which 897 have been filled and 163 are vacant. There
are 125 posts of State Resource Persons (SRPs) sanctioned, out of which 87 have been filled
and 38 are currently vacant. The organisation also plans to identify 100 Data Entry Operators
(DEOs) from its own Village Social Auditors (VSAs) resource pool to do data entry of the
social audit reports at the Mandal level2.
Since SSAAT was the first Social Audit Society to be set-up in India and has a prescribed
process of conducting social audits (through rules / prescribed formats3 / Guidelines and
Memos), there are continuous requests from other states to provide technical assistance by
way of conducting trainings for the resource persons and sharing information related to
setting up of a Society, Rules and Regulations etc. Government of India has also requested
SSAAT to extend support to various states that are setting up similar societies in compliance
with the MGNREGS Audit of Schemes Rules, 2011 issued by the Ministry of Rural
Development.
In the last year, SSAAT has made significant strides in the process of Social Audit. A number
of special audits have been undertaken based on requests made by MPs/MLAs and
beneficiaries of the Scheme as well as the State Government. There is a growing awareness
about the social audit process in the villages and amongst the beneficiaries. However, the
challenge still remains in trying to ensure that more and more people attend the social audit
gram sabha despite intimidation that exists within the village. In recent times, SSAAT has
begun to identify the best DRPs based on the number of people they have managed to
mobilize to attend the social audit gram sabha.
1 Please refer to Annexure 1 for statistics on MGNREGS, SSP, AABY and booklets for IWMP and MDMS.
2 . Please refer to annexure 2 for current status of SSAAT resource base.
3 Please refer to Annexure 9 for social audit formats
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The Department of Rural Development has also introduced new provisions in the
implementation of the MGNREGS through two significant GOs - Demand Capture and
Unemployment Allowance Rules and Delay Payment Compensation to labourers4.
Introduced a few months ago through a mobile based application, the Demand Capture
process has ensured that a significant number of people who couldn’t access work earlier, not
just manage to register their demand but also get work within 15 days. While in the earlier
rounds of social audit, demand was a notional figure with no formal capture by issuing dated
receipts to the labourers. The Social Audit teams have now started auditing these aspects with
the records that are being maintained at the field level and the same have been incorporated
into the revised formats.
Earlier this year, the Department of Rural Development also issued orders related to the
validity period of measurements that will have a significant impact on the MGNREG works
to be audited in the future. One of the critiques of the social audit process has been that it is a
post-facto process and often works are being measured after a year due to which the
measurements tend to vary. The guidelines mentioned have been issued to address this issue
so as to ensure that the implementing agency has the required proof to show that a work has
taken place and the auditors have clear guidelines about the supporting documents that they
can rely on while conducting the audit.
Similarly, the Disciplinary Rules for Fixed Tenure Employees (such as the Field Assistant /
Technical Assistant / Computer Operators/ Additional Programme Officer) whose services
are contracted through the Society for Rural Development Services (SRDS) have been
revised based on the social audit categorisation of issues. Initially, the social audit database
generated 125 types of issues identified through the audit process which were eventually
categorised into seven broad categories of offences and the same were linked to the
employees to be indicted as well as the type of penalty (Minimum and Maximum) to be
imposed.
While the state continues to try and improve the implementing mechanisms, each change
poses new challenge for the social audit process at the field level. Constant changes in the
implementing mechanism also requires SSAAT’s resource base to constantly upgrade their
skills. Regular refresher trainings are held to ensure that the DRPs and SRPs are kept abreast
of the changes in the implementing system. The challenges faced by the social audit teams
are continuously placed before the Department of Rural Development in the monthly review
meetings that are held by the Principal Secretary, RD and Commissioner, RD, along with
other officers of the Department. This facilitates the decision making process for necessary
steps at the field level. The same has been extended to other schemes being audited as well.
4 Please refer to the Compendium of Circulars (COC) for copies of all the G.Os/Rules/Circulars/Memos
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The Department of Rural Development has also benefitted with the inputs provided by the
social audit teams and this has led to policy changes in the implementation of the various
schemes such as MGNREGS, SSP, AABY and IWMP. The expansion of SSAAT to facilitate
social audit processes of other schemes, the increasing pressures on the organization to play a
significant role in helping other States set-up similar processes and institutions, the human
resources required to fulfil such a role, funding for the trainings conducted for other States
and Departments without becoming a revenue model driven process are questions that need
consideration and guidance which is sought from the Governing Body.
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The progress since the last GB is listed below
A brief over-view of the progress made since the last GB Meeting is indicated through the
figures below.
S. No Particulars Fin. Year 2011-12 Fin. Year 2012-13
1 Total No. of S.As Planned 1316 1066
2 Total No. of S.As Completed 1082 1051
3 Total No. of GPs covered so far 21725 20946
4 Total No. of Habitations covered so far 55300 47234
5 No. of Independent Observers Attended - 3251
6 No. of Independent Observers NOT
Attended
- 5962
7 Total Working DRPs 875 855
8 Total SRPs as per recent Recruitment 77 86
9 Present Working SRPs in field 61 82
10 Total No. of Teams in the Field 71 78
11 Total No. of VSAs who participated in the
S.A process
33575 36389
12 Total MGNREGS Expenditure Including
other Convergence Rs.
29,10,77,94,387 48,88,52,84,744
13 Total Expenditure Records Given to S.A
(Audited) Rs.
26,95,15,90,241 42,84,04,13,866
14 Expenditure Records Not Given to S.A Rs. 2,15,62,04,146 6,17,07,43,254
15 Expenditure which Incurred for S.A in Field
Rs.
9,34,28,637 12,81,49,482
16 Amount of Deviation Found as part of S.A
Rs.
1,35,80,74,879 2,98,13,77,521
17 Percentage of Deviation Found as part of S.A 5.04 6.96
18 Amount of Deviation accepted by the
Presiding Officer Rs.
75,37,37,639 1,71,74,05,378
19 Percentage of Deviation accepted by the
Presiding Officer
55.50 57.60
20 Amount Recovered as part of S.A Rs. 73,13,033 70,55,434
21 Balance Amount to be recovered as per S.A
Rs.
1,35,07,61,846 2,97,43,22,087
22 Percentage Recovery 0.54 0.24
23 Total Paras/ Issues Identified so far 138344 175119
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24 Total number of persons held responsible as
per S.A
16063 22337
25 Persons held Responsible - F.As/ Rojgar
Sewak
10435 16047
26 Persons held Responsible - T.As 3103 3906
27 Persons held Responsible - APOs 738 1014
28 Persons held Responsible - MPDOs 622 882
29 Persons held Responsible - Others (AE-PR,
NPM, ITDA etc.)
1165 488
30 Total Delay Payments Identified as part of
S.A Rs.
17,44,07,787 13,67,34,565
31 Delay Payments at Postal Dept. level Rs. 4,36,43,213 3,31,43,948
32 Delay Payments at Smart Card level Rs. 3,22,79,797 4,37,87,978
33 Delay Payments at V.O level Rs. 1,00,46,371 82,51,617
34 Delay Payments at MPDO level Rs. 5,64,86,795 4,56,33,968
35 Delay Payments at Bank level Rs. 3,19,51,611 59,17,054
36 Social Security Pensions Audited Mandals
(from July'12 to April'13)
263 809
37 No. of SSP Pensioners met with S. A team 665268 8562897
38 Total SSP Audited Amount Rs. 37,53,84,361 3,77,27,26,488
39 Amount of Deviation found in SSP as part of
S.A Rs.
39,41,878.00 5,51,81,520
40 Percentage of Deviation found in SSP as part
of S.A
1.05 1.46
41 Details of Insurance, Abhaya Hastam &
Scholarships as per the records Rs.
- 59,74,03,848
42 AABY Total No. of Cases - 256677
43 AABY Total No. of Cases in Variation - 5274
44 AABY Total Amount Variation Rs. - 1,47,25,964
Details of Backlog Mandals
45 Period of 0 to 6 months 612 754
46 Period of 07 to 12 months 401 296
47 Period of 12months Above 86 30
(Please refer to Annexure 1 for detailed progress of MGNREGS)
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Progress of Social Audit
SSAAT has conducted social audits of the MGNREGS in 1066 mandals, AABY in 212
mandals (on a pilot basis), SSP in 1133 mandals, for IWMP in three projects (one in each
regions of Telangana, Rayalseema and Andhra) and MDMS in two districts of Khammam and
Chittoor covering one block each on a pilot basis. The experience of doing audit for these
schemes has been an interesting learning curve for the resource persons. To step out of the
comfort zone of doing audit of only MGNREGS to conducting audits of other schemes was a
challenge that they gladly undertook.
I. Main trends noticed based on the social audit data between 2011-12 and 2012-13:
The total MGNREGS expenditure audited was Rs 2900 crores in 2011-12. In 2012-13, there
was a significant increase to Rs 4900 crore that includes convergence with other departments.
This is almost 40% increase in the amount audited. The difference between the records not
given is 65% between the two financial years.
Record wise:
- In 2011-12 expenditure records not provided vis-a-vis total expenditure was 7% whereas
in 2012-13, there was a sharp increase of 13% which is a worrying trend.
- The percentage of deviation found through the social audit process has increased from 5%
in 2011-12 to 7% in 2012-13. This 2% amounts to Rs. 298 crores which is significant.
- 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000
2011-12
2012-13
2,911
4,889
2,695
4,284
Audited Expenditure (Rs. in Crs)
Expenditure for which records was not given for audit
Total expenditure records audited
Total MGNREGS expenditure including covergence
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Decisions- taken
- The percentage of the acceptance of social audit paras by presiding officer has increased
by 2% between 2011-12 and 2012-13.
- The percentage of recovery that takes places during the audit process has undergone a
sharp decline from 0.54% to 0.24%. Interestingly, the feedback from the field has
revealed that it is now commonly understood and perceived by EGS employees that
paying a recovery will be perceived as an admission of guilt and will be used in legal
action initiated against them at a later stage. Therefore there was a sharp decline in the
instances of recovery.
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Employees
- Total number of persons held responsible as per social audit has increased by 28%. Of
these employees, the FAs are the highest at 72%, followed by TA at 17%, APOs at 5%,
MPDOs at 4% and rest at 2%.
Delay payments:
- The social audit data shows that there is a marked decrease in the delay payments- almost
27% between the two financial years. Payments in AP are currently being done through
the postal departments and the VOs. Delay payment is being tracked at five levels – the
bank, mandal level (MPDO), VOs, postal and smart card. The delay in payments at the:
Postal level shows 1% decrease between the two financial rounds
Through smart cards an increase of 14% increase
Through the VOs a decrease by 0.3%
At the Mandal level an increase of 1%
At the bank level a sharp decline of 14%
An interesting trend that has emerged from the entire analysis of delay payments is that
except the smart card payments that have shown an increase, all others have shown a sharp
decline. This could be attributed to GO MS no. 8 PR & RD, dated 08/01/2013 related to
Compensation to labourers for the delay in wage payments.
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II. Backlog of Social Audit –
The backlog of Social Audits is a continuous challenge faced by SSAAT. In fact, in the last
year the number of audits has dropped from 1316 to 1066, which is a difference of about 250
audits. The reasons for the drop in the audits are mainly due to –
i. Non-provision of records in a timely manner which leads to the teams waiting
for records to be furnished and hence spending more number of days in the
blocks;
ii. Limiting the number of mandals where social audits could be taken up during
the peak work season (March-July) has meant a decrease in the audits and an
increase in the already existing backlog. The implementing agency was
bringing the works in the mandal to a halt because of the social audit and the
labourers were getting affected;
iii. Audit of other schemes such as SSP and AABY along with MGNREGS has
meant that the number of days required in the field have also increased;
iv. IWMP/ MDM pilot social audits;
v. Special Audits (P.R Roads & Coffee Plantation);
vi. High expenditure and high backlog mandals take much longer to audit;
vii. At any given point of time at least 5-10% resource persons are on leave;
The issue of whether or not to conduct a social audit in a GP during peak work season
remains an issue that has not been resolved so far.
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For SSP and AABY, it has been agreed that the same team which does the Social Audit
of the MGNREGS will undertake the audit of SSP and AABY too, there will be a
common gram sabha and public hearing. The costs for the same will be shared on a 65-
35 basis (with MGNREGS meeting 65% of the costs and 35% being met from the SSP
budget) so as to keep the social audit costs to 0.5% of the total MGNREGS budget.
III. Re-Organisation of SSAAT
As SSAAT continues to expand and cover other schemes and requests from other states, a
need has been felt to re-structure it for smooth functioning without any hindrance to the on-
going audits. There is a growing number of requests from many other Departments of the
State Government as well as from Government of India requesting SSAAT to undertake pilot
social audits and design Social Audit toolkits for other welfare schemes.
The Chairperson of SSAAT, Principal Secretary, RD, reviewed SSAAT’s existing structure
on 11.1.13 and suggested that the work of SSAAT be divided amongst 7 verticals, each
discharging a definite work with clearly delegated work. Based on the discussions that took
place during the meeting a revised organogram of SSAAT has been prepared which includes
existing as well as new posts to be filled5.
5 Please refer to Annexure 3 for SSAAT organogram.
Period of 0 to 6 months
Period of 7 to 12 months
Period of 12 months above
612
401
86
754
296
30
Details of Backlog Mandals
2011-12 2012-13
Page 23
Improving the Social Audit System –
Several initiatives have been undertaken to further strengthen the social audit process at
the field level. One of them is the Independent Observer6 who plays a critical role in the
Gram Sabha to ensure that the voice of the labourers is heard. This also ensures that the
evidence is recorded in a manner that enables the presiding officer to take an appropriate
decision.
a) SA Observers related initiatives–
SSAAT has undertaken the following initiatives to improve the Observer system in the
field which includes –
1) Training for independent observers identified by the government;
2) Attendance and performance review of the observers in the monthly review
meetings;
3) Proposal to have independent observers from civil society
4) Preparing guidelines for their performance
It is worth stating that even though there has been an improvement much more needs to
be done to further strengthen the process.
b) Linking Social Audits to the Quality Control Wing –
The social audit teams deal with a range of issues on the field such as auditing purely earth
works to material intensive works. A constant challenge that they have to deal with is lack
of technical qualification pertaining to material works because of which a number of
material works related issues that have been raised have often been referred to the quality
control wing by the Presiding Officers. To try and address this an order was issued to
ensure that the QC Teams went along with the Social Audit teams while the audit was in
progress and that the teams would together physically verify the material intensive works
to avoid further reference. The joint inspection of works has meant that the number of QC
references by the Presiding Officer has been reduced.
6 Please refer to Annexure 8 for note on role of observers
Page 24
c) Fixing Responsibility for Non-production of Records-
To address the issue of delay and non-provision of records Memo # 2525 was issued
on 10.03.13 by the Department fixing responsibility on the APO for producing the
records, failing which he/she would be placed under immediate suspension. If records
pertaining to 75% of the works on which expenditure was incurred since the last
social audit of a Block are provided then the Social Audit process should take place.
In the case of works taken up in convergence with other departments the person in-
charge of the DCC has been made responsible for handing over the records failing
which under Section 25 of the MGNREG Act, a fine will be imposed on the person.
IV. Progress of the Post Social Audit Follow-Up
The Department of Rural Development has set-up an independent wing to do the post social
audit follow up which is as critical as the process of social audit itself. In the previous rounds
of social audit, disciplinary action initiated by the Department was being challenged in the
Court by the FTEs (Fixed Tenure Employees) on the basis of Principles of Natural Justice.
They stated that they were removed directly after a social audit without being given a chance
to defend their case. Subsequently, the Vigilance wing was set up at the district level to
ensure that proper course of action was followed in all disciplinary cases by issuing Show
Cause Notices and providing people an opportunity to give their explanation through a
personal hearing.
The progress of the Disciplinary Cases since the last GB is indicated through the figures on
page 25 and 26:
Page 25
i. Status of Disciplinary Cases C
AD
RE
No
. o
f C
ase
s
Su
spen
ded
Rem
ov
ed
Pu
nis
hm
ent
Imp
ose
d
Acq
uit
ted
To
tal
dis
pose
d
FIR
Fil
ed
Ba
lan
ce
Field
assistants 6590 277 367 4163 1163 5693 7 897
Technical
assistants
2688
188 83 1628 426 2137 3 551
Engineerin
g Consultant 508 23 14 274 59 347 1 161
Computer
operators 1229 12 20 646 280 946 0 283
Addl
program
Officers
287 10 10 104 60 174 2 113
11302 510 494 6815 1988 9297 13 2005
MPDOs 116 2 0 1 3 4 0 112
AEEs 125 0 0 0 5 5 0 120
BPMs 459 0 0 0 0 0 0 459
Sarpanch 80 0 0 0 0 0 0 80
Others
(VOs,CSPs
etc)
3113 6 462 1017 1 1480 0 1633
3893 8 462 1018 9 1489 0 2404
15195 518 956 7833 1997 10786 13 4409
51864 1306 5344 14984 6673 27001 163 24863
Page 26
ii. Status of Recovery from July, 2012 to May, 2013
S.No Name of the District Amount determined
as Misappropriation (Rs)
Amount
Recovered (Rs)
1 Adilabad 983616 731332
2 Ananthapur 10159290 873450
3 Chittoor 6417903 8425005
4 East Godavari 4095371 1678858
5 Guntur 11460612 1281966
6 Karimnagar 3178439 2350589
7 Khammam 10257115 1529894
8 Krishna 438069 495551
9 Kurnool 13664918 3124422
10 Mahabubnagar 13307985 2173105
11 Medak 5674317 2038042
12 Nalgonda 11145750 3282703
13 Nellore 2893553 1256896
14 Nizamabad 13556039 3282862
15 Prakasam 11783245 1143667
16 Ranga Reddy 6006736 527481
17 Srikakulam 1092606 656044
18 Visakhapatnam 7421395 2032181
19 Vizianagaram 6890048 1064625
20 Warangal 14751362 6325791
21 West Godavari 2244704 2125218
22 Y.S.R 4051788 2537645
Total 16,14,74,861 4,89,37,327
(Please refer to Annexure 4 for CVO follow-up status)
Page 27
iii. Mobile Courts
The AP Government passed the APSA & PCP Act, 2012 (Andhra Pradesh Promotion of
Social Audit & Prevention of Corrupt Practices Act) and since then one Mobile Court on
a trial basis has been set up in Medak which also covers Karimanagar. The First Class
Judicial Magistrate has held camp court at the GP level in both districts and cross-
examined witnesses in great detail. SSAAT’s resource persons (DRPs and SRPs) as well
as VSAs have been asked to appear for cross-examination in the camp court.
So far the progress of the Mobile court is depicted in the table below –
Dis
tric
t
# o
f ca
ses
file
d
# o
f ca
ses
un
der
tri
al
# o
f ca
ses
un
der
scr
uti
ny f
or
wan
t of
docu
men
ts
# o
f
per
son
s
con
vic
ted
Sen
ten
ce
s im
pose
d
# o
f p
eop
le a
cqu
itte
d
FA
TA
Imp
riso
nm
ent
Fin
e Im
pose
d
Medak
36 18 18 5 1 6
months –
1year
Rs.30,00
0 to
Rs.50,000
1
Karimnagar 40 18 22 0 0 - - 0
Total 76 36 40 5 1
(Please refer to mobile court booklet for details on functioning of Mobile Court and the
challenges)
Page 28
V. Data Related Issues
a) Onsite Data Entry –
In 2011 after a great deal of brain-storming it was decided that data entry of the social
audit reports at the Mandal level would be done online so that the soft copy of the reports
would go in a time bound manner. The previous mechanism involved sending the reports
to an off-site point where the reports were being entered. However, a lot of the
information was being lost in translation and there was a fear of losing reports in the
process of transportation. Data management of the social audit reports in SSAAT
continues to be an extremely challenging task.
Data Management involves the following –
a. Ensuring that the data for the expenditure and works of the period that is being audited
is generated by TCS in the requisite formats and sent to SSAAT on a DVD. Data is
generated based on the schedule of audits planned for any given month. On an average
the data pertaining to 120 Mandals – 3000 GPs is generated and handed over to
SSAAT;
b. The DVD containing the data is sent to the printer identified by SSAAT through a
tendering process. The data is printed into booklets for the purpose of social audit. These
booklets are then sent to the Mandals directly by the printer. There are 100 booklets per
Mandal which are to be filled by the social auditors;
c. Once the social audit teams return to the Mandal office from the field after the
verification process and the gram sabha has been held there is a Data Entry Operator
(DEO) waiting for them to start entering the data at the Mandal level itself;
d. The data entry has been out-sourced to eGram IT and it is their responsibility to send the
data entry operators to the field in time to do the data entry;
e. Ideally, the output sheet should be in the form of the Decision Taking Format (DTF) that
is a printed version which is used by the DRPs to read out from during the public
hearing and another copy in which the Presiding Officer can record his/her decisions;
Challenges associated with the data entry-
a. eGram IT is unable to send DEOs to all the Mandals, they are operating with less
number of DEOs and hence, data entry is getting affected;
b. In high expenditure mandals where the number of issues are also comparatively higher,
the data entry takes more than 2 days;
c. There is also potential for greater human errors as the data entry operators are also quite
slow and ill-equipped to carry out such a mammoth exercise;
Page 29
d. The output sheet or the DTF is not generated in a manner which is user friendly and
hence, the hand-written version is commonly preferred by the audit teams and the
Presiding Officers;
e. No quality check is being done at the field level hence, there is a big chance of issues and
data being missed out;
f. Categorisation of issues has to be accurate or else the issue would go into the general
category that is hard to query;
After going through the entire exercise it has been decided that –
a. SSAAT will build an in-house capacity to identify and train 100 DEOs from its VSA
resource base;
b. The back-end support will be extended by eGram IT for the time being;
c. Alternative options have to be explored to find a viable and less cumbersome data entry
process;
d. A full-time Programme Manager will be appointed to handle and manage data since all
the original reports are also being scanned and kept for future reference.
e. Data Management is a big responsibility as SSAAT’s core work resides in the reports and
the accuracy of reports being uploaded on the website has to be ensured;
f. Quality check of the data is also extremely critical;
g. Data entry for SSP / AABY has also begun recently which has added to the volume of
work;
VI. Data Ware-House
It has already been stated that SSAAT has conducted six rounds of MGNREGS Social Audits
across 1085 mandals so far and has now begun the audits of other schemes. The Social Audit
reports of each Mandal per round is more than 5000 pages and has to be stored carefully
since, disciplinary as well as legal action is being initiated based on these reports. Currently,
SSAAT has more than 5000 reports which is about 2.5 crore pages of evidence, critical for
follow-up action. This is just the records pertaining to MGNREGS, added to this are the
records of the SSP, AABY and IWMP. Unless a proper archive is maintained, the records run
a risk of getting damaged. Many of the cases that have been filed in the courts and are
coming up for hearing are more than 3 years old and the court requires the original reports to
be filed during trial failing which the trial cannot proceed.
Page 30
While records pertaining to the audits that have taken place in the last 6 months have been
placed in the record room at DWACRA building of SSAAT, the space is insufficient. There
are reports that have also been stored in two rooms at APARD. Retrieval of the reports is
virtually impossible as there is no space to stack them in an orderly manner.
Thus, it is critical to think of a proper record room for the storage of reports that is
spacious and will also protect them from termites, rodents, fire and any other damage.
SSAAT will need a warehouse to store these reports. A decision will also have to be
taken regarding the time frame for maintaining the reports.
VII. Data Analysis
SSAAT has undertaken an in-depth analysis based on the Social Audit data of 4 rounds. Data
pertaining to 4 rounds of audits conducted in 716 mandals was taken as a sample for analysis.
The data required intensive cleaning to eliminate bad or inaccurate data and was then tested
on various parameters. The data was analyzed on these aspects –
• Contribution of financial, non-financial and grievances to total irregularities
• Trend of the irregularities over the rounds
• Distribution of mandals with respect to financial deviation
• Issue compositions over the rounds
• Records not given
While data was available for each round, to keep the sample as consistent as possible, only
those mandals for which data was available across all rounds was considered. The
methodology followed for the analysis was as follows-
• Mandal was considered as a unit
• For AP level trends, only mandals with data across the rounds was considered
• 150 issue types classified
• Grouped by Financial deviation, non-financial deviation and grievances
Based on the analysis the following trends were noticed –
i. Financial issues have increased between round 1 and round 4 which could be
interpreted in many ways. In the first round, when the scheme was still at the
inception stage, there weren’t any material works and hence, all the deviation
identified pertained only to the wage payments and fraudulent muster-rolls;
Page 31
ii. By the 2nd
, 3rd
and 4th
rounds the material component had been introduced in the
scheme and was increasing with the categories of work chosen being material
intensive. Hence, the financial deviation shifted from fraudulent muster-rolls to
material intensive works;
iii. It is also possible that the Social Audit teams got better at the audit process over the
rounds and hence, were able to do a far more competent job than they were able to do
in the initial rounds;
iv. It is also interesting to note that the percentage of grievances reduced from the 1st to
the 3rd
round, but was slightly higher than the 3rd
round and the 4th
round. This could
be interpreted in many ways, one of which is that the grievances were fewer because
of an increase in the awareness level of the labourers.
v. It could also be that with every round of social audit the number of issues getting
addressed was increasing;
vi. It could also be an indicator that fewer people were willing to come forth and register
their complaints as there was both intimidation and a backlash from the local level
leaders;
vii. It is also seen from the analysis that while benami names were in the top two issues in
the first three rounds, by the 4th
round it had become a non-issue and did not figure in
the list of issues. This would essentially co-relate to the first point where we have seen
an increase in the financial deviation in every round largely due to the presence of
highly material intensive works, whereas, there was a dip in the fraudulent muster-
rolls and benami names.
(Please refer to Annexure 5 (PPT) on data analysis of 4 rounds of MGNREGS)
VIII. Capacity Building and Recruitment Innovations
The Resource Persons of SSAAT are the foundation of the social audit process and are
entirely drawn from the VSA base. SSAAT’s VSAs are from the labourers’ families and job-
card holders themselves, as a result of which they are quite aware of the MGNREGS and the
provisions in the Scheme. However, over a period of time it has been perceived that the
VSAs should be trained and their capacities should be built. Apart from skill building, it will
also enhance their understanding of other Rural Development schemes and problems faced by
implementing agencies. This will help them focus on other welfare schemes other than
MGNREGS and also they will be better equipped to undertake social audits of other rural
welfare scheme.
Page 32
In order to achieve this, SSAAT has collaborated with AMR-APARD and has set-up a centre
for training called C-SATA which carries out an in-house 21 days training for the VSAs
identified by SSAAT after grading their performance on the field.
So far, four batches of 40 VSAs each have been trained of which one batch was exclusively
of women from the Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh. These VSAs are then recruited as
DRPs and further trained in Social Audit. The trainings have been very successful and the
quality of the DRPs has significantly improved7.
IX. Synergy with the Accountant General’s Office
The synergy established between SSAAT and the AG’s office continues. SSAAT supported
the CAG’s Performance Audit of the MGNREGS by involving some of the DRPs and SRPs
in the field verification process along with the auditors from the AG’s office. SSAAT’s staff
has participated in training programmes and workshops for the auditors who work in the
AG’s office and their field level staff by organizing exposure visits to the field to participate
in the social audit process.
SSAAT’s work at the field level has also been audited during the CAG’s Performance Audit.
The report has pointed out that SSAAT will have to make efforts to meet the statutory
requirement of doing two audits in a year. They also found that in some areas the awareness
regarding social audit was high and in some places it was relatively low. The Performance
Audit report has however, acknowledged that AP is the only state to have undertaken the
process of social audit seriously and made a genuine attempt to promote it.
SSAAT has requested the AG’s office to conduct a financial audit of the organisation in the
forth-coming financial year so as to ensure that there is absolute financial propriety being
adhered to and also to give further guidance in case there are some changes that have to be
adopted in the current accounting mechanism being followed.
7 Please refer to Annexure 6 for detail on SSAAT capacity building and recruitment innovation.
Page 33
X. Budget
SSAAT continues to try and keep its expenditure limited to 0.5% of the total
MGNREGS budget. Recently, to ensure that the cost of doing audit of other Schemes
does not fall on the MGNREGS budget, an arrangement was worked out to meet 35% of
the total costs from SSP budget and 65% from the MGNREGS budget. SSAAT
continues to follow a system whereby no revenue is earned. The money that SSAAT
receives is the exact costs incurred by the organization to conduct the audits.
SSAAT has followed the same process with IWMP; a separate team has been constituted
to conduct the social audits. This team will be drawn from the existing resource base,
especially DRPs and SRPs who have been working with SSAAT for more than 3 years.
Internal Audit of SSAAT has been undertaken for the financial year 2011-12 and a
request has been made to the firm recommended by the Department of Rural
Development for the internal audit for 2012-13 to be undertaken in the month of July’13.
(Audit report will be circulated during the GB meeting)
The details of expenditure incurred in 2012-13 is:
Details Amount Rs. in Crores
Total Expenditure of Social Audits Rs 25,49,29,161 25.5 cr
SSAAT Expenditure Rs. 12,73,12,014 12.7 cr
Social Audit Field Expenditure Rs. 12,76,17,147 12.7 cr
Estimated Budget for 2013-14 Rs. 47,19,77,400 47.2 cr
SSAAT Expenditure Rs 21,27,77,400 21.2 cr
Social Audit Field Expenditure Rs 25,92,00,000 26 cr
(Please refer to Annexure 7 and 7A for note on budget and statistics)
Page 34
XI. Welfare Initiatives for SSAAT Staff
Resource Fee related issues-
A committee could be set-up to fix the remuneration of all the staff and look at the salaries
currently being paid and also to suggest pay-scales that should be followed.
Medical claims
Since the issue of insurance could not be resolved in the year 2012-13, a medical committee
has been set-up to screen the medical bills submitted by resource persons who fell sick while
in the field. The medical committee will scrutinize and recommend the cases that should be
reimbursed.
Insurance8
In the year 2013-14 SSAAT has decided to follow a Scheme of “Own your Insurance” which
has been designed by the HR manager with inputs from other staff members. It was also
discussed in the Executive Committee Meeting and a committee was set up to work out the
modalities of the scheme. Every employee who is not covered by Rajiv Arogyasri will have
to insure him/herself and SSAAT will meet part of the payment for the same as its share. The
same has to be approved by the GB.
Ex-gratia
It was suggested that SSAAT follow the same process as the SRDS for payment of ex-gratia
in case a Resource Person working with SSAAT loses his/her life or is disabled. A draft set of
rules have been prepared for the approval of the GB.
8 Please refer to consolidated notes on approvals/ ratification/ discussions by GB for scheme and
modalities of insurance and ex gratia
Page 35
Conclusion
It has been seven years since the foundation of Social Audits was laid in Andhra Pradesh.
Through these years it has been innovative and committed to the cause of demanding
accountability and transparency. In seven years it has come a long way in adhering to its
visions and mission but still continues to face many challenges. These issues cannot be
resolved by SSAAT on its own and it needs support of its stakeholders and other civil society
organisations to overcome these challenges.
While SSAAT continues to take steps towards achieving perfection; it also requires inputs as
well as direction from the esteemed Governing Body Members as well as others who are
engaged in protecting the MGNREGS as well as other rural development schemes. Social
Audits have proven to be invaluable in ring-fencing the scheme, but the real challenge ahead
is to keep the social audit process ring-fenced as well. Attempts are continuously being made
to undermine the process as well as the Scheme; a collective strategy and synergy will have
to be worked out to ensure that in the coming years, both are protected.
SSAAT Team
Page 36
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