Social Audit is the procedure to verify the deliveries/activities undertaken under various schemes by interacting directly with the beneficiaries and other stakeholders.

Organizations can follow their own policies and processes for conducting the Social Audit. However, most organizations generally follow the below process

• It starts with the identification of the program / scheme for which Social Audit is to be conducted
• The audit instruments (Questionnaires) are designed
• Independent auditors / NGOs or resource persons are identified
• Auditors / resource persons are trained on the Audit instruments
• Departmental / factual data that are to be verified (if available) are shared with the auditors / resource persons
• Timelines for the audit are drawn up. Awareness campaigns are planned / conducted to ensure maximum participation of people
• Auditors / resource persons conduct the audit in their allotted area. They ensure people's participation
• Auditors / resource persons collate the data and present their findings in Public hearings (Gram Sabhas) in the presence of local administrators. People can object if the findings are inaccurate.
• Local administrators / auditors submit their findings and suggestions to the respective institutions
• Institutions are required to respond / take action against each finding / suggestion
• Action taken on the last audit findings may also be presented in the next Audit

In majority of the cases, Social Audit is conducted in a paper and pen format i.e.

• Hard copies of the departmental data and questionnaires are given to the auditors
• Auditors record their observations, findings, interactions in these hard copies
• Data from these hard copies is then collated by the Auditors for the Public hearings (Gram Sabhas)
• Feedback / suggestions / action items from the Public hearings (Gram Sabhas) are collated on paper
• Paper reports are then sent to the institutions for their necessary actions

Gram Sabhas/Public Hearings are conducted at the Gram Panchayat level. The auditors / villagers and local administrators participate in the Public Hearings/Gram Sabhas. Consolidated findings of the Social Audit and people's grievances are presented in the meeting. Gram Sabha is an important forum for villagers / beneficiaries to get their complaints, grievances and issues addressed.

Yes. Using our iHear application the entire Social Audit process can be conducted in a digital manner.

• Social audit instruments (questionnaires) are available as digital forms in the iHear application
• Auditors are onboarded and given access to their relevant instrument(s) (questionnaire) and the area in which they are supposed to conduct the Social Audit
• Auditors can record their response directly on the App
• Once the Audit is completed, Auditors can download the consolidated analysis of the audit for presenting it in the Public Hearings
• Grievances / suggestions / action items of the Public Hearing can be recorded on the APP
• Line Departments / resolving institutions can view their list of grievances / suggestions / action items received area-wise. Action taken can be updated
• Auditors can verify the action taken on the ground and close the feedback cycle

Yes. The App can be used for any scheme / programme. Organizations can provide their instruments (questionnaires) and it can be configured in the App

Yes. The pre-existing templates (questionnaires) and dashboard which are available can be customized.

The App works completely offline and therefore can be used in all locations

The App is available on the cloud. You can subscribe to our cloud based model in which case no separate infrastructure is required at your end

Conducting Social Audits digitally gives a range of advantages. Key ones are listed below

• All records are available digitally and can be referred to at any point
• Reduces errors
• Makes it easier and quicker to analyse and publish the social audit findings
• Social audit records across time periods can be compared