Meghalaya became the first state in the country to enact the Social Audit Act. The objectives of the Act are to review delivery of public services and implementation of government schemes and programmes through a participatory social audit by government and the stakeholders. The Act is also intended to ensure timely review and concurrent course-correction in the delivery of schemes and programmes to arrive at the desired development outcomes.
Named the Meghalaya Community Participation and Public Services Social Audit Act, 2017 the Act seeks to facilitate ‘Concurrent Audit’ of development programmes and public services as specified under Schedule I of the Act. It seeks to monitor the effectiveness and efficiency of the implementation of the development programmes and public services in a time-bound manner and to initiate course-correction measures wherever necessary. The Act, above all, would monitor and encourage transparency in the delivery mechanisms and institutions engaged in the implementation of developmental programmes and public services. The Social Audit Act above all is expected to educate the citizens and make them aware of their rights and entitlements in order to build their confidence and secure their participation so that they become partners in governance and not mere beneficiaries. Unless citizens own up development they will continue to be outside the governance process which is the antithesis to participatory democracy. Social Audit tools are to be used for the purpose of finding the facts at the field level during programme implementation. People should be responsible for the kind of roads, footpaths, and water supply systems that are constructed in their localities.
An important aspect of social audit is to provide a platform for airing of public grievances and ensure a time-bound redress of the same. In the light of the above Act it would have been in order for the Social Audit authorities who are empowered to take up auditing of public services to audit the State Power Corporation and all the irregularities in it. After all, whether the Government is taking loans or injecting funds from different central institutions, it is all public money and the government must account for every penny. But the manner in which the MeECL is functioning makes it appear that it is a privately owned corporation with no public accountability. Now that the Government is intending to install smart meters in private residences and public institutions, the public have a right to know if the meters used have the sanction of the central government and are not manufactured by Chinese firms which could compromise data safety and security. The Social Audit Commissioner is expected to take suo-moto action on the smart meter case.
