The Hindu Editorial with Vocabulary – May 2018
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The Hindu Editorial with Vocabulary – “People as Auditors”
Social audits ensure a citizen-centric mode of accountability. The breakdown of institutions has underlined the fact that democracy — and especially public funds — need eternal public vigilance. But in India, the elites close ranks to neutralise voices of dissent and alarm, thus preventing public vigilance.
Democratic governance needs the citizen to be legally empowered to ask questions, file complaints, and be a part of the corrective process. Social audits, as they have begun to evolve in India, can potentially become a powerful democratic method by which transparency can be combined with an institutionalised form of accountability to the people.
In the mid-1990s, the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) experimented with, and began to conceptualise, village-based Jan Sunwais (public hearings) on development expenditure. These helped establish the Right to Information (RTI) as a potent, usable people’s issue and, in parallel, the institutionalised form of social audits.
Information is empowering
In a Jan Sunwai campaign, organised in five different development blocks of central Rajasthan, people learnt by doing. They realised that information is at the core of their empowerment. The process of verification, inquiry and auditing of records was demystified. Public readings of informally accessed development records had dramatic outcomes. As the names were read out from government labour lists, the responses were immediate and galvanised the people. Information about payments made to dead people and non-workers propelled residents to testify in the Jan Sunwai. These included serving government and armed forces personnel and names randomly copied in serial order from electoral lists. Even animals absurdly enough found their way into the lists of workers. Unfinished buildings without doors, windows or a roof were shown as audited and ‘complete’. Ghost names and ghost works were exposed. Fake development works paid for and ‘completed’ on paper enraged local residents.
The people made four sharply focussed demands and circulated them in a pamphlet: full and open access to records of development expenditure; the presence and accountability of officials who are responsible to answer people’s questions; the immediate redress of grievances, including the return of defalcated money to its intended purpose; and mandatory ‘social audits’ .
Amitabh Mukhopadhyaya, then an officer of the IA&AS, who visited, watched and contributed to the architectural growth of the process till he passed away a year ago, remarked that this was “audit returning to its roots”: the word audit comes from the Latin word audiere, which means “to hear”. The Jan Sunwai facilitated the reading of information and recorded the people’s response. The effective institutionalisation of this platform could be a fundamental breakthrough in the attempt to give people and communities real monitoring powers. One of the defining slogans of the RTI movement that emerged from these Jan Sunwais and people’s agitations — “hamaara paisa, hamaara hisab” (our money, our accounts) — succinctly encapsulated the concept of a social audit.
The RTI Act brought into effect the first prerequisite for social audits — giving citizens access to government records. The last 13 years of its use have demonstrated its salutary effect, but also made it obvious that information itself is not enough. Contemporary discourse on the RTI reflects frustration when ordinary people are armed with information but are unable to obtain any redress. The social audit places accountability in the centre of its frame, and transfers the power of scrutiny and validation to the people: a citizen-centric mode of accountability.
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The power of social audits
The social audit is conceptually simple. Information is to be proactively shared amongst people so that they can “performance audit” a service or programme, from planning, to implementation and evaluation. This is, however, easier said than done. An independent facilitation structure needs to be set up, fleshed out, legally empowered and mandated to ensure that social audits are conducted. The relationship between the powerful and the powerless has to shift from patronage to rights, and from inequality to equality, making the right to question sacrosanct. Specific methods of sharing information, recording comments and acting on findings have been worked out. They now need to be acted upon.
The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) was the first law to mandate social audit as a statutory requirement. However, even within the MGNREGA, social audits made painfully slow progress. They faced their most trenchant opposition in Rajasthan, where the concept was born. Elected representatives and officials reacted with intimidation, violence and pressure on the political leadership to stall and neutralise the process. The notable exception was undivided Andhra Pradesh which institutionalised social audits and drew significant positive outcomes. There have been innovative efforts in States like Sikkim, Tamil Nadu and Jharkhand. Nationally, institutionalised social audits have begun to make real progress only recently, with the interest and support of the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), and the orders of the Supreme Court. In what was a social audit breakthrough in 2017, Meghalaya became the first State to pass and roll out a social audit law to cover all departments.
The Office of the CAG developed social audit rules for the MGNREGA in 2011, conducted a performance audit in 2015, and finally a year later formulated social audit standards in consultation with the Ministry of Rural Development — the first time in the world. If these are followed, it can be ensured that the social audit process is viable, credible and true to first principles of social accountability.
The Supreme Court has recently passed a series of orders to give social audits the robust infrastructural framework they need. Citing the statutory requirements in the MGNREGA and the National Food Security Act, the court has ordered that the CAG-formulated Social Audit Standards be applied to set up truly independent state-supported State Social Audit units. It has also ordered that social audits be conducted of Building and other Construction Workers Cess, and the implementation of the Juvenile Justice Act. Social audits, if properly implemented, will help address the impunity of the system in delivery and implementation.
The current dispensation makes a mention of social audits in its manifesto. But there has been no delivery on legal accountability frameworks such as the Lokpal Bill and the Whistle Blowers Protection Bill. The system of social audits needs synergetic endorsement and a push by multiple authorities to establish an institutionalised framework which cannot be undermined by any vested interests. It is now an opportune time for citizens groups to campaign to strengthen social audits, and make real progress in holding the political executive and implementing agencies to account.
Vocabulary Words from The Hindu Editorial
1. Sacrosanct(adjective) पवित्र / अनुल्लंघनीय: Treated as if holy / immune from criticism or violation. ((especially of a principle, place, or routine) regarded as too important or valuable to be interfered with.)
Synonyms: Inviolable, Inviolate, Unimpeachable, Unchallengeable, Invulnerable, Untouchable, Inalienable
Antonyms: Blasphemous, Irreverent, Profane, Sacrilegious
Example: There is something sacrosanct about the relationship between owner and dog.
2. Statutory(adjective) वैधानिक/ क़ानूनी : Relating to rules or laws which have been formally written down. (Statutory means relating to rules or laws which have been formally written down.)
Synonyms: Constitutional Lawful Legal Legislative Judicial Rightful
Antonyms: Illegal Illegitimate Illicit Unlawful, unconstitutional
Example: The government could put it on a statutory footing as a result.
3. Intimidate(verb) धमकाना/ भयभीत करना : Frighten or overawe (someone), especially in order to make them do what one wants. (to discourage, restrain, or silence illegally or unscrupulously, as by threats or blackmail)
Synonyms: Frighten, Menace, Terrify, Scare, Terrorize, Cow, Subdue, Daunt,
Antonyms: Cheer, Comfort, Console, Solace, Soothe, Encourage
Example: That’s why I let you intimidate me the last time I tried to question you.
4. Cursory(adjective) बेपरवाह होकर काम करना : Something done quickly with little attention to detail. (A cursory glance or examination is a brief one in which you do not pay much attention to detail.)
Synonyms: Perfunctory, Desultory, Casual, Superficial, Token, Uninterested, Half-Hearted, Inattentive, Unthinking, Offhand, Routine
Antonyms: Thorough, Painstaking Deliberate, Unhurried, Unrushed
Example: Security guards carried out a cursory check but left after finding no sign of a disturbance.
5. Manifesto(noun) घोषणापत्र/ नीति-घोषणा पत्र : A written statement of the beliefs, aims, and policies of an organization, especially a political party: ()
Synonyms: Declaration, Proclamation, Pronouncement, Announcement, Publication, Notification
Example: The association said that the government must keep its manifesto pledge to sustain 3,000 rural post offices.
6. Synergetic(adjective) सहक्रियाशीलता/ साथ में काम करते हुए: Working together; cooperating; synergic
Synonyms: Cooperative. Collaborative Coordinated Combined Symbiotic Collegial
Antonym: Independent, Disunited, Uncooperative, Separate Disjoint.
Example: The synergic relationship between the Idea and vodaphone has created a giant company that now controls the industry.
7. Dissent(noun) मतभेद/ असहमत होना : The expression or holding of opinions at variance with those previously, commonly, or officially held.
Synonyms: Disagreement, Argument, Dispute, Demur Disapproval, Objection, Protest, Opposition, Defiance, Conflict, Friction, Strife
Antonyms: Agreement, Accord, Acceptance, Accord, Concord
Example: The increasingly hard line taken by the authorities to crush dissent has drawn a growing number of protests internationally.
8. Defalcate(verb) गबन करना/ हड़प जाना/ सौपे हुए धन को अपनाना : To steal or misuse funds entrusted to one’s care. (to misuse or misappropriate property or funds entrusted to one)
Synonyms: Embezzle; Defalcate; Misappropriate; Peculate; Malversate, Plunder, Swindle, Pilfer
Antonyms: Compensate, Give, Pay, Receive, Reimburse, Return
Example: As the firm did not maintain any regular audits, the clerk’s defalcations remained undetected for a long time.
9. Prerequisite(noun) पहले से आवश्यक/ शर्त : Something that must exist or happen before something else can exist or happen. (something required as a prior condition)
Synonyms: Precondition, Condition, Essential, Requirement, Requisite, Necessity, Proviso,
Antonym: Unnecessary, Non-Essential, Optional, Dispensable, Needless
Example: The most important prerequisite for economic survival is flexibility.
10. Discourse(noun) प्रवचन/ बातचीत/ उपदेश : Written or spoken communication or debate. (Discourse is spoken or written communication between people, especially serious discussion of a particular subject.)
Synonyms: Discussion, Conversation, Talk, Dialogue, Communication, Conference, Debate, Consultation
Example: More particularly, they should not be part of national political discourse
Word of the Day – “Repudiate”
- Repudiate (verb) अस्वीकार/ खंडन करना, नकारना, इंकार करना, प्रत्याख्यान करना, छोड़ देना, त्यागना, परित्याग, संबंध-विच्छेद करना
- Meaning:- If you repudiate something or someone, you show that you strongly disagree with them and do not want to be connected with them in any way
- Synonyms: Deny, contradict, controvert, rebut, dispute, dismiss, brush aside, gainsay
- Antonym: Emphasize, approve, welcome, allow.
- Example: You or anyone acting on your behalf, must not negotiate, admit or repudiate any claim without our written consent.
- उदाहरण: आप या आपकी ओर से काम करने वाले किसी व्यक्ति को, किसी दावे के संबंध में हमारी लिखित स्वीकृति के बिना कोई सौदेबाजी, स्वीकृति या अस्वीकृति नहीं करनी है।
Quote of the Day
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” Martin Luther King, Jr.
“अंधकार से अंधकार को दूर नहीं किया जा सकता है, केवल प्रकाश से ही ऐसा किया जा सकता है। नफरत से नफरत को नहीं हटाया जा सकता है, केवल प्यार से ही ऐसा किया जा सकता है।” मार्टिन लूथर किंग, जूनियर
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