Q. The relevance of social audit has increased in recent years and there is a call for social audit of various government welfare schemes. Consider the following statements in this context:

1. The Constitution of India empowers the Gram Sabhas to conduct social audits
2. In India, CAG is responsible for supervising the social audits
3. Right to Information (RTI) and public hearing are integral parts of social audit

Which among the above statements is / are correct?
Answer: Only 1 & 3
Notes: Social audits are generally supervised by autonomous bodies consisting of government and nongovernment representatives. The 73rd Amendment of the Constitution empowered the Gram Sabhas to conduct Social Audits in addition to other functions. CAG not empowered to conduct Accounting Audit of PRIs in the whole country: No central policy or regulation making accounting audit and social audit mandatory. Kindly read this news item also.