In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 19
of the Meghalaya Community Participation and Public Services Social Audit Act,
2017 (Meghalaya Act No. 7 of 2017), the Governor of Meghalaya hereby makes the
following rules, namely: - (1) These rules may be
called the Meghalaya Community Participation and Public Services Social Audit
Rules, 2019; (2) They shall come into
force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette. (1) In these rules,
unless the context otherwise requires, - (a) "Act" means
the Meghalaya Community Participation and Public Services Social Audit Act,
2017 (b) "District Social
Audit Coordinator" means the authority at the District level as provided
under Section 9 of the Act; (c) "Governor"
means the Governor of Meghalaya; (d) "Society"
means the Meghalaya Society for Social Audit and Transparency (MSSAT); (e) "Programme
Implementation and Evaluation Department" means the Programme
Implementation and Evaluation Department, Government of Meghalaya; (f) "Schedule"
means the Schedule appended to the Act; (g) "Selection
Committee" means the Search-cum-Selection Committee constituted under rule
4 of these Rules; (h) "Social Audit
Committee" means the Village or Locality Social Audit Committee as
provided under Section 11 of the Act; (i) Social Audit Public
Hearing" means the public hearing provided under clauses (c) and (d) of
Section 12 of the Act; (j) "Social Audit
Facilitators" means such Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), Self Help
Groups (SHGs), and the Resource persons as engaged by the MSSAT in the process
of Social Audit; (k) "Social Audit
Team" means the Social Audit Facilitators (SAF) provided under sub-section
(1) of Section 13 of the Act; and (2) "State Social
Audit Council" means the State Social Audit Council constituted under
Section 6 of the Act. (3) All other words and
expressions used in these rules, but not defined shall have the meanings respectively
assigned to them in the Act. (1) The Departments shall
be encouraged to include programmes, schemes and interventions being
implemented by them, in addition to the Schemes already notified under Schedule
I of the Act. (2) Wherever such a need
is felt, the Departments may propose to include any other programmes, schemes
and interventions under the ambit of the Act to the Programme Implementation
and Evaluation Department. (3) The Programme
Implementation and Evaluation Department (PI & ED) shall set up a mechanism
by which citizens may recommend conducting of social audits for Government
programmes. (1) For the selection of
the Chairperson, State Social Audit Council as stipulated under clause (a) of
sub-section(2) of Section 6 and non-official members as stipulated under clause
(d) of sub-section(2) of Section 6 of the Act, a Search-cum-Selection Committee
comprising of the following members shall be constituted to select the
Chairperson and non-Official members of the State Social Audit Council :- (i) Chief Secretary,
Government of Meghalaya; (ii) Principal Accountant
General (Audit), Government of Meghalaya; (iii) Civil Society
Organization representatives (two) as suggested by the office of the Chief
Secretary; and (iv) Administrative
Member, Lokayukta. (2) The selection
committee shall search and/or select the Chairperson keeping in view the list
of potential candidates prepared by the Programme Implementation and Evaluation
Department. (3) For the selection of
ex-officio members as stipulated under Section 6 (2) (b) and (c) of the Act,
the following members of the State Social Audit Council shall be appointed by
the State Government, - (i) the Principal
Secretary/Commissioner & Secretary/Secretary of all such Departments, whose
schemes are listed in Schedule I of the Act; (ii) the Deputy Chairmen
of Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council, Jaintia Hills Autonomous District
Council and Garo Hills Autonomous District Council; (iii) the Deputy
Commissioner of one District from each of the three regions, namely, Khasi,
Garo and Jaintia, on a rotation basis for every two years. (4) Commissioner and
Secretary/Secretary to the Government of Meghalaya, Programme Implementation
and Evaluation Department shall serve as the Member Secretary of the State
Social Audit Council. (1) The Chairperson and
Members shall hold office for a term of 3 (three) years from the date on which
he/she enters office and such Chairperson or members shall not be eligible for
re-appointment. (Members may however be eligible for appointment as Chairperson
for one term). (2) The
Search-cum-Selection Committee shall decide the eligibility criteria for the
positions of Chairperson and the members of the State Social Audit Council and
conditions of service. It
shall be ensured that 33% of the membership in the Council comprises of women. (1) Any member of the
State Social Audit Council may, by notice in writing under his or her hand
addressed to the Chairperson of the Council with a copy to the Chief Secretary,
resign from his or her office. (2) The
Search-cum-Selection Committee may also decide on the modalities for removal of
members, if and when such a need arises for doing so. (1) The State Social
Audit Council shall meet once in six months, or more frequently, as per
requirement. (2) The Council shall
perform the following duties in its mandate :- (i) Make suggestions in
the Calendar, as may be deemed necessary, to be followed by the Meghalaya
Society for Social Audit and Transparency in ensuring that social audits are
conducted in every village at least once in two years. (ii) Review of the
compliance by the Meghalaya Society for Social Audit and Transparency to its
calendar. (iii) Review of the
compliance of social audits conducted by the Meghalaya Society for Social Audit
and Transparency with Auditing Standards of Social Audit as developed by the
Comptroller and Auditor General. (iv) Monitor the uploading
of Social Audit Reports in the public domain. (v) Monitor the receipt
and disclosure of Action Taken Reports by the Departments on Social Audit
Findings, (vi) The Council shall
prepare an Annual Report incorporating social audit findings and Departmental
action therein, which shall be tabled in the Legislative Assembly, (vii) Develop and maintain
a web site as mandated under sub-section (4) of Section 17 of the Act to host
Social Audit Reports, Action Taken Reports and all other information incidental
to the same. (viii) Conduct meetings as
often as may be necessary, to review the action taken by the Departments on
social audit reports and grievances. (ix) Recommend
departmental and inter-departmental frameworks for time bound grievance redress
to ensure that grievances identified through social audits are institutionally
redressed on a systematic basis and monitor the compliance of Departments on
the same, (x) Approve templates to
be used by Line Departments for mandatorily disclosing information as mandated
under sub-section (3) of Section 17 of the Act and monitor the compliance of
Departments on the same. (3) The Annual Report
prepared by the State Social Audit Council which shall be laid before the
Legislative Assembly shall contain the following details :- (i) Number of Social
Audits conducted with reference to the number of social audits planned for, in
the annual Calendar. (ii) Status of compliance
of social audits conducted with the Auditing Standards of Social Audit. (iii) Department or Scheme
- wise social audit findings. (iv) Department or
Scheme-wise action taken on social audit findings, (v) Department - wise
compliance of provision of information to social audit teams, fifteen days
prior to the Social Audit. (vi) Department - wise
compliance of norms of participation in the Social Audit Public Hearings. (vii) Department or Scheme
- wise issues of implementation identified through social audits, but not
adequately addressed by the Action Taken Reports. (viii) Status of submission
of Action Taken Reports by Deputy Commissioners and Implementing Agencies. (ix) Number of
applications and grievances registered through social audits, (x) Number of
applications and grievances, sanctioned and redressed by the Deputy
Commissioners or the Departments, (xi) Number of policy
level and inter-departmental issues identified by the Programme Implementation
and Evaluation Department based on Social Audit Reports and their status. (xii) Suggestions for
policy reform based on social audits, (xiii) Number and nature of
trainings conducted. (xiv) Applications under the
Right to Information Act, 2005 received by the Meghalaya Society for Social
Audit and Transparency. (xv) Complaints received
by the Meghalaya Society for Social Audit and Transparency and redress thereof. (4) The State Social
Audit Council shall adhere to the provisions of the Right to-Information Act,
2005. (1) The Director,
Meghalaya Society for Social Audit and Transparency shall be responsible for
drawing up a proposed budget of the Meghalaya Society for Social Audit and
Transparency to strive for conducting social audit in all the villages of the
State, once in two years. (1) Programme
Implementation and Evaluation Department shall seek funds from Government of
Meghalaya, for social audit of the Schemes, enlisted in Schedule I of the Act,
based on an assessment of likely costs made by the Society and place such funds
with the Society for funding social audit of the scheme(s), under the Schedule. (2) The State Government
shall transfer funds equivalent to the budget approved as per clause (1) of
Rule 10, to the Meghalaya Society for Social Audit and Transparency. (1) The Directorate of
Programme Implementation & Evaluation will be responsible for the
implementation of the provisions of the Act, through the Meghalaya Society for
Social Audit and Transparency. (2) The Directorate shall
: (i) be responsible for
collating Department - wise Social Audit Reports produced by the Meghalaya
Society for Social Audit and Transparency and the Action Taken Reports as
produced by the Deputy Commissioners and Implementing Agencies; (ii) identify those areas
in the Social Audit Reports for which adequate action is not reflected in the
Action Taken Reports produced by the Deputy Commissioners and Implementing
Agencies; (iii) hold a quarterly
meeting with the Meghalaya Society for Social Audit and Transparency Deputy
Commissioners and State Nodal Officers to follow up on the issues identified
under clause (ii) above and arrive at a time frame within which the same has to
be addressed; (iv) identify
inter-departmental areas on which joint action has to be taken and areas that
require policy changes, that may have been unearthed through social audits.
These issues will be put up before State Social Audit Council; (v) make recommendations
and arrive at time-bound institutionalization on (vi) above, through inter
- departmental meetings held as and when needed; (vii) forward compilation
of Social Audit Reports, Action taken Reports and areas in the Social Audit
Report for which adequate action is not reflected in the Action Taken Reports,
to the State Social Audit Council, once a month. The same shall be hosted in
the public domain; and (viii) develop templates and
formats for the individual Departments to disclose information as mandated
under sub-section (3) of Section 17 of the Act. (1) The Meghalaya Society
for Social Audit and Transparency shall be responsible for facilitating social
audits of the schemes enlisted in Schedule I of the Act, by roping in reputed
NGOs, SHGs to conduct the social audit, as the case may be. (2) The Meghalaya Society
for Social Audit and Transparency may recruit State Resource Persons, District
Resource Persons, Block Resource Persons and Village Resource Persons, as and
when required. (3) The Meghalaya Society
for Social Audit and Transparency shall ponduct social audits across the State
as per its Calendar and conduct social audits in all villages at least once in
two years, through Social Audit Facilitators drawn from NGOs, SHGs and own
staff (Village Resource Persons, Block Resource Persons, District Resource
Persons etc.). (4) The Meghalaya Society
for Social Audit and Transparency shall prepare a Draft Annual Calendar by
fifteenth February of every year. (5) The draft Calendar
shall be disclosed in the public domain for seeking suggestions from the public
for a period of thirty days. (6) The Annual Calendar
after incorporating the agreed changes shall be approved by thirtieth March of
the Financial Year starting from first April to thirty first March. (7) The Meghalaya Society
for Social Audit and Transparency shall ensure that Social Audit Reports
prepared are uploaded on the web portal within fifteen days of the Public
Hearing. (8) The Meghalaya Society
for Social Audit and Transparency may organize Capacity Building Programmes for
the NGOs and SHGs, which are likely to be engaged in the social audit process,
in accordance with the spirit of the Act. (9) The Meghalaya Society
for Social Audit and Transparency shall function under the overall direction
and superintendence of the Programme Implementation and Evaluation Department,
the Nodal Department for implementing the provisions of the Act and the Rules. (1) As per the Auditing
Standards of Social Audit developed by the office of the Comptroller and
Auditor General, social audits must be independent of the implementing agency. (2) Implementing Agencies
whether at the State, District, Block or Village level shall not interfere in
the process of the conduct of social audits. (3) The functions and
duties of the Deputy Commissioner while implementing the provisions of the Act
include the following :- (i) Provision of Records
as enlisted in Annexure I to MSSAT fifteen days prior to the Audit, (ii) Consolidate the
Action Taken Reports (ATRs) submitted by the Departments as per Rule 20 (12)
and upload the same on web portal within 21 (twenty one) days of uploading of
Social Audit Report by MSSAT. (iii) Facilitate 'Entry
Meeting' between Social Audit Facilitators and Head of the Village
(Headman/equivalent), Village Executive Committee and front line functionaries
at the beginning of the audit. (iv) Provide facilities to
Social Audit Facilitators in the village where the social audit is taking
place, either at the Village Community t Centre, School or Anganwadi Centre
etc. (v) Ensure participation
of implementing agencies ' at the panel constituted for the Social Audit Public
Hearings. (vi) Ensure that every
Department has set up a desk or counter at the Public Hearing. The counter is
required to be coordinated by the District level/Sub-divisional/Block Level
Implementation Officers of the respective Departments, as the case may be. (vii) The counter under
clause (vi) above shall be responsible for the following :- (a) processing of
applications, grievances, or petitions received; (b) study each
application, grievance or petition as per the Departmental norms and make its
recommendation. If necessary, it will seek clarification from the applicant and
obtain required information and approvals from other Departments if necessary;
and (c) place all the
registers and files pertaining to the schemes implemented by the Department on
the desk so that it can be viewed by citizens. (viii) Ensure that the
following facilities are provided on the day of the Social Audit Public
Hearing,- (a) tents, (b) drinking water, (c) seating arrangements, (d) Sound System, (e) Videography, (f) food or refreshments
and (g) public conveniences. (4) The Meghalaya Society
for Social Audit and Transparency shall bear the expenditure for all social
audit activities. (1) Each Department shall
create an Internal Social Audit Cell, which shall be headed by the Nodal
Officer as mandated under sub-section (1) of Section 10 of the Act. (2) The Cell created
under sub-rule (1) above shall be responsible for the following :- (i) Ensuring that the
officers concerned at the District, Block or Village level, submit information
that needs to be provided to the Meghalaya Society for Social Audit and
Transparency, fifteen days prior to the social audit. (ii) Collating information
that needs to be mandatorily disclosed in the public domain as mandated under
sub-section (3) of Section 17 of the Act. (iii) Monitor the
participation of District and Block Nodal Officers in the Social Audit Public
Hearings. (iv) Issue detailed
guidelines on the nature of action to be taken by the officers concerned for
redressing grievances and applications received through the social audit such
that action can be taken and reported in Action Taken Reports within fifteen
days of uploading the Social Audit Report by MSSAT (v) Every Department is
mandated to prepare and disclose the following information for each scheme
implemented by it :- (a) List of entitlements, (b) Eligibility criteria
for qualifying as a beneficiary to avail the benefits under the scheme, (c) Process of
application and documents to be submitted, (d) Departmental process
of sanctioning applications along with timelines, (e) Departmental process
of release of funds along with timelines, (f) Composition of
Village Level Committees and their roles, (g) Grievance/Redress
procedures along with timelines, and (h) Duties of officers at
the Village, Block and District level in the implementation of the scheme. (1) The Social Audit
Committee identified by the General Body of the Village or Locality Employment
Council as stipulated under sub-section (1) of Section 11 of the Act shall
include representative from the Youth and Women Groups of the villages. (2) The Social Audit
Committee identified under sub-section (1) of Section 11 of the Act shall not
include any individual who is in charge of implementing schemes in the village. (1) The Programme
Implementation and Evaluation Department and the Meghalaya Society for Social
Audit and Transparency may elicit the participation of Civil Society
Organizations for the following activities :- (i) Conduct of Social
Audit, (ii) Development of
training content, (iii) Imparting training
and capacity building of Village Social Audit Committees, Social Audit
Facilitators etc. (iv) Extending support to
Social Audit Facilitators in the village during a social audit, (v) Participating in the
Social Audit Public Hearing and be a member of its Panel, (vi) Participate in forums
of dialogue and consultation institutionalized by the Government to follow up
on policy recommendations that emerge from social audits and make suggestions
for further improvement. (1) The Social Audit Team
shall spend three to seven days in the village, depending on the size of the
village and the number of schemes implemented, etc. (2) The following shall
be the activities that the Social Audit Team will complete on the first day of
the social audit : - (i) Meet the members of
the Social Audit Committee as identified by the Village Employment Council, or
such other village body as mandated under the Act. (ii) Conduct a meeting
with the Head of the Village (Headman/equivalent) and explain the purpose of
the social audit. During the interaction between the Social Audit Team and the
Head of the Village (Headman/equivalent), the venue and time for the Public
Hearing shall be decided and shall be communicated to the District
Administration. (iii) Conduct a basic training
and orientation programme for the members of the Social Audit Committee. (iv) Meet field-level
functionaries of various schemes and access primary documents according to the
format and identify gaps. (v) Allocation of schemes
and localities amongst the Social Audit Team. (3) The following shall
be the activities that the Social Audit Team will complete over the next
three-four days :- (i) Interaction with
members of Village Level Committees of all the schemes. (ii) Verification of
records with members of Village Level Committees. (iii) Conduct interaction
with beneficiaries through door to door visits and/or locality meetings. It
will be mandatory for the Social Audit Teams to meet every beneficiary. In
their interaction with beneficiaries or citizens, members of the Social Audit
Team shall :- (a) Give information
about their entitlements. (b) Verify records, (c) Document
discrepancies between records and beneficiary testimonies with evidence, (d) Register grievances
that the beneficiaries want to file. (e) Facilitate filling of
the application forms to be submitted to Line Departments on the day of the
Public Hearing. (f) Application Forms
should be filled and completed with required documentation for all those who
express an interest in obtaining benefits under schemes. (g) Sanctions, approvals
or waiting lists shall be provided by concerned Line Departments in the Public
Hearing as per norms of priority decided in the Public Hearing. (h) For community
benefits needed by the village, the social audit teams shall explain the nature
of schemes available, and help create proposals where the village seeks to
access such a scheme. (iv) Social Audit Team
shall help prepare a list of all eligible persons who are not the current
beneficiaries. (v) Conduct visits to
physical works undertaken in the village and all points of service delivery. In
its visit to the site of work or point of service delivery, the Social Audit
Team shall. (a) observe quality of
the work found on site and discuss utility of work or asset by interacting with
users; (b) verify work site with
records entered into the Measurement Book; (c) verify expenditure
booked for in bills or vouchers with actual utilization; and (d) for services, the
team shall individually and collectively use the prescribed formats to take
feedback on prescribed parameters on service delivery. (vi) Social Audit Team
shall conduct at least one evening meeting in the village to spread awareness
to the community about social audit and their entitlements and each day shall
conclude with an internal de-briefing of the Social Audit Team to exchange
preliminary findings. (vii) Social Audit Team
must take measures to share information in the public domain through the course
of the social audit verification and give wide publicity about the date and
place of public hearing. (viii) The following shall
be the activities that will be completed by the Social Audit Team on the day
before the Social Audit Public Hearing : - (a) Consolidation of
social audit findings and prepare an agenda of key issues and findings raised
during the verification process for discussion in the Public Hearing. (b) The agenda must
consist of the following components : - Key
findings for each scheme, List
of grievances registered for each scheme, List
of applications filed for availing each scheme, and Suggested
recommendations for strengthening, implementation of the schemes in the
village. (c) Follow up with the
District Administration about the arrangements to be in place for the Public
Hearing that shall take place the following day. (ix) All members of the
Social Audit Team shall (a) mandatorily stay in
the village for the entire duration of the social audit and the District
Administration is required to make arrangements at the village community hall
or public school; (b) not take hospitality
(food, accommodation, etc.) from anyone involved in the implementation of
schemes. (c) maintain all accounts
of expenditure for the social audit and shall be ready to share this in a
transparent manner, (d) take care to respect
local cultural norms and customs and not speak rudely with anyone, (e) not respond to
provocation but report any untoward incident to the group leader, (f) not consume alcohol
or other addictive substances during the course of the audit, (g) not to discriminate
on the basis of gender, (h) pay for their food
and accommodation on their own; (1) No member of the
implementing agency shall be a part of the village-level committees constituted
under any scheme. (2) The same individual
cannot be a member of more than one village level committee, as far as
possible. (3) Planning, selection
of beneficiaries, prioritization of works as done by the committees, shall be
read out, endorsed and finalized in the social audit public hearing. (1) The Council shall
develop and maintain a Social Audit Web Portal that shall contain the following
at the minimum, in addition to the information put forward from time to time :- (i) Social Audit
Calendar, (ii) Social Audit Reports, (iii) Action Taken Reports, (iv) List of Actions or
Recommendations pending, and (v) Minutes of meetings. (1) The social audit
exercise shall conclude with a Public Hearing. (2) The Social Audit
Public Hearing will be a general body meeting, open to all residents (men and
women) and members of the Dorbar. (3) Members of the Social
Audit Team shall set up a single help or Facilitation Desk which shall register
all applications, grievances or petitions and provide two copies of dated
acknowledgement receipts for every application and hand it over to the
applicant and direct his or her application to the appropriate department Desk.
At the Department Desk, the applicant shall retain one copy of the receipt and
hand over the second copy of the receipt along with the application form to the
Department. The Facilitation Desk set up by Social Audit Team will retain a
third copy of each individual receipt for the record. (4) Every Department
shall be required to set up a desk or counter at the Public Hearing, as
stipulated under Rule 13 (3) (vii). (5) The Programme
Implementation and Evaluation Department or Meghalaya Society for Social Audit
and Transparency shall print, display and disclose information about the day of
the hearing, through an appropriate method. (6) The Social Audit Team
will begin reading out the findings of social audit for individual Departments.
This will include case studies, individual testimonies etc. Participants will
be given a chance to intervene and comment. The Public Hearing will be presided
by a panel consisting of the following: (i) Head of the Village
Level Social Audit Committee (He should not be head of Panchayat or involved
with any implementing agency), (ii) Deputy
Commissioner/nominee (Gazetted officer not below the rank of EAC, who is well
versed with the departmental schemes), (iii) Block Level
Implementation Officers of the various schemes being audited. (iv) NGO/CSO Representative
who is not from the Block, (v) Representative of
MSSAT (vi) Representative of the
Autonomous District Council. (7) Summary of the
information pertaining to the scheme and its expenditure shall be read out.
This will include summary of the applications filed on the day of the Public
Hearing and the response of the Department on the same. Applicants and
Complainants shall be given a chance to comment on the response of the
Department in front of the panel. (8) The Panel shall have
to take a decision or make recommendation on each finding, which shall be
announced and recorded in the minutes. (9) The minutes of the
meeting will be taken by a representative of the Meghalaya Society for Social
Audit and Transparency. (10) For all applications
seeking individual or collective benefits, if the applicant qualifies, the
applicant should either be awarded sanction on the day of the Public Hearing
itself. In the case that sufficient resources are not available to accord
sanction to all those who have applied, a priority-based waiting list may be
created, which shall be read out in the Public Hearing. (11) On Social Audit
Findings, the Panel shall give its recommendations which shall also be read
out. (12) Individual
Departments shall submit an Action Taken Report on findings of the social audit
to the Deputy Commissioner within fifteen days, effective from the date of
uploading of Social Audit Report on to the web portal by the MSSAT (13) The Deputy
Commissioners shall ensure that Action Taken Reports are uploaded on the Social
Audit Web Portal within twenty one days from the date of uploading of Social
Audit Report on to the web portal by the MSSAT. MEGHALAYA COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION AND PUBLIC
SERVICES SOCIAL AUDIT RULES, 2019
PREAMBLE