Social accountability refers (SAc) to

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2 What is Socia Accountabiity? Socia accountabiity refers (SAc) to a broad range of actions and mechanisms that citizens, communities, CSOs and independent media can use to hod pubic servants and pubic and private service providers accountabe. SAc toos incude participatory budgeting, pubic expenditure tracking, citizens report cards (CRC), community score cards (CSC), socia audits, citizens charters, peope s estimates, and so forth. These mechanisms are being increasingy recognised word-wide as a means of enhancing democratic governance, improving service deivery and empowering poor. INTRODUCTION Conventionay, governance is the way the state and its various institutions negotiate and mediate with peope, markets and civi society, through aws, poicies, reguation and finance. Today governance is overarching with many dimensions incuding institutiona and poitica. Governance refers to decision-making and the process by which power is exercised to utiise economic and socia resources for deveopment. The concept of governance has grown over the ast 15 years to go beyond the conventiona confines of the nation-state or government. Market forces as we as civi-society processes and citizens initiatives have increasingy started infuencing the process of governance today. Many civi society organisations (CSOs) strongy beieve that governance is not just the effective management of economic resources. Citizens have the right to demand accountabiity and pubic actors have an obigation to be accountabe to its citizens. This is a fundamenta principe of democracy and a keystone of a growing movement around the word that focuses on strengthening capacities within the government and the civi society to make pubic institutions more responsive to citizens. A NEW APPROACH There is now a new approach that has emerged in which citizens activey engage in hoding those in power accountabe for their actions, decisions and behaviour caed SAc. It is a form of democratic accountabiity and can be defined as Pubic Accountabiity through Civic Engagement. Mechanisms of SAc can be initiated and supported by the state, citizens or both, but very often they are demand-driven and operate from bottom-up. Framework for Accountabiity Reationships Making Services Workabe for the Poor (WDR 2004) Demand Side Approaches Suppy Side Approaches Mid Day Mea Scheme in Rajasthan CUTS in partnership with the Word Bank, impemented a piot project Measuring the Effectiveness of Mid Day Mea Scheme (MDMS) in Rajasthan, India during using a combination of two SAc toos, namey the Participatory Expenditure Tracking Survey (PETS) and the CRC. The project aimed towards a scientific anaysis of tota budget panned and sanctioned by the Centra and State Government during five years ( ). A detaied anaysis of impementation of the MDMS was done by conducting participatory surveys in seected schoos of Chittorgarh district. Awareness buiding on the pubic expenditure processes in order to create an informed and critica-minded society to contribute towards introducing reguar improvements in effective impementation of the MDMS in the State was attempted.

3 INDIAN SCENARIO In the ast few years, issues of good governance have been receiving considerabe attention in the poitica discourses in India. The enactment of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005 in India opened up the entire governance process to the common peope and created genuine demand for SAc mechanisms. SAc contributes to increased deveopment effectiveness through improved pubic service deivery and a better-informed poicy design. SAc initiatives aso ead to empowerment, particuary of the poor. The right to good governance is aso considered an essentia part of the citizen s rights that one can expect from the government. CUTS INTERVENTIONS CUTS has been working in the area of enhancing transparency and accountabiity at a eves of governance through increased peope s participation using various methods, toos and techniques, campaigns, surveys, and advocacy since its inception. It has been activey invoved in a number of campaigns to weed out corruption at a eves of governance. In 2001, CUTS conducted a survey to understand the perception of the common man on corruption at various eves, and on its basis recommendations were provided to the government to take appropriate measures to address the probem. Under the Gram Gadar Feowship of CUTS, a research study was done on Corruption: Affected by the Common Man in CURRENT PHASE The current phase of CUTS interventions started in 1999, with a project entited Promoting State Accountabiity and Citizens Empowerment through Budget Anaysis in partnership with Ford Foundation, New Dehi. Under the project, detaied anayses of budget pans and deveopment schemes for targeted groups of the community such as women, andess abourers and margina farmers was done. The Word Bank, in Juy 2004, through the project Goba Stock Taking on Socia Accountabiity Mechanisms for Asia and the Pacific, identified CUTS interventions through the State Accountabiity Project for a case study on pro-poor spending. The Phiippine Centre for Poicy Studies, as commissioned by the bank, did the stocktaking. CUTS is presenty invoved in enhancing transparency and accountabiity in various service deiveries using various SAc approaches and toos. The Indian government initiated severa wefare schemes with huge budgetary support. But unfortunatey the benefits were not reaching the targeted popuation for whom it was meant. SOCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY IN INDIA CUTS and The Word Bank organised a nationa workshop on Socia Accountabiity in India: Moving from Mechanisms to Outcomes and Institutionaisation in Large Scae Pubic Programmes in Jaipur, India in December 2009 to strengthen the accountabiity reationships between poicy makers, service providers and citizens. Assessing Nationa Rura Empoyment Guarantee Scheme CUTS in partnership with the Word Bank conducted another SAc piot entited Assessing 2Qs (Quaity & Quantity) Outputs of the Nationa Rura Empoyment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), as Per Provisions of the NREGA (2005) in Sirohi district of Rajasthan. It used a combination of three SAc toos during This study resuted in severa poicy as we as operationa changes in the impementation of the scheme mainy the changes pertained to: probem of poor service deivery, inefficiency and ineffectiveness, abuse of discretion, non-responsiveness of power hoders etc.

4 Socia Accountabiity Interventions of CUTS Year Sector Partner Agency Methodoogy/ Toos used State Accountabiity Project Ford Foundation Budget Anaysis Invoving Consumers in the Power Friedrich Ebert Stiftung CMP Sector Reforms 2003 Schemes and Programmes for Chidren Government of Rajasthan Budget Anaysis Measuring the Effectiveness of MDMS The Word Bank PETS & CRC 2006 India Budget Process (IBP) IBP Peer Review Combating Corruption Partnership for Transparency Right to Fund (PTF) Information (RTI) Assessing Outputs of NREGS The Word Bank CRC, CSC & PETS SAc Curricuum Deveopment Administrative Staff Coege Modue Preparation in South Asia of India supported by Word & Case Anaysis Bank Institute (WBI) Crafting the Market for SAc The Word Bank Advocacy with Approaches & Toos poicy makers Reforming Processing in Rura PTF RTI Deveopment Department in Rajasthan Community Monitoring of Absenteeism Resuts for CRC and Service Deivery in Heath Sector Deveopment (R4D) Deveoping a Cuture of Governance Affiiated Network on Socia CSC Accountabiity-South Asia Region (ANSA-SAR) AFFILIATIONS Voice and Cient Power Programme of the Word Bank faciitated by Water and Sanitation Programme- South Asia (during 2004) South Asia Socia Accountabiity Network supported by the Word Bank, May 2005 Internationa Resource Team on Socia Accountabiity of the WBI, January 2007 Demand for Good Governance Learning Network of the Word Bank, June 2008 Freedom of Information Advocates Network, August 2010 INTERNATIONAL ASSIGNMENTS Training of Trainers (ToT) on Community Assessment Process in Sri Lanka during February 2007 and on Community Score Card (CSC) supported by the Word Bank at Bangadesh, in May 2007 SAc Approaches and Toos workshop organised by ANSA-SAR at Dhaka, in March 2010 Learning Workshop on Mainstreaming Socia Accountabiity in Oxfam Great Britain s (OGB) Change Strategies for East Asia organised jointy by ANSA-EAP & OGB at Phnom Penh, in Juy 2010 Training on Action Learning to Impement Socia Accountabiity in Monitoring the Performance of Government of Vietnam in partnership with Oxfam GB, Vietnam at Hanoi, on March 01-03, 2011

5 Reforming the Processes at the Grassroots CUTS in coaboration with PTF, Washington DC started an intervention in 2007 in Phase I and continued in Phase II in rura areas of two administrative districts (Jaipur and Ajmer) of Rajasthan with the aim of contributing towards reducing corruption in government departments through enhancing eve of awareness on RTI among common peope and encouraging the citizenry for appication of RTI. Buiding upon phase I intervention, phase II focussed ony on three seected fagship schemes: NREGS, Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana and Indira Awaas Yojana impemented by Rura Deveopment and Panchayati Raj Department of Government of Rajasthan. Improving Heath and Service Deivery CUTS in partnership with Transparency and Accountabiity Programme of the R4D Institute, Washington DC and Human Deveopment Network of the Word Bank, Washington DC and in active coaboration with the Department of Heath & Famiy Wefare, Government of Rajasthan, impemented a project entited Ensuring Improved Service Deivery through Community Monitoring of PHCs in Tonk District of Rajasthan from August 2009 to October Keeping in mind the community monitoring aspect of Nationa Rura Heath Mission, civic engagement was kept as the centra point of this research project which ooked into the service deivery through pubic heath centres and the aspect of absenteeism. Deveoping a Cuture of Good Governance CUTS with the support of the ANSA-SAR initiated a project entited Deveoping a cuture of good governance and accountabiity in the state of Rajasthan, India by invoving CSOs and buiding their capacity with a focus on improving the pubic expenditure outcomes. Under this project, a cadre of peope having deep interest and faith in SAc toos in the area of bringing a cuture of good governance woud be trained in CSC and they, in turn, woud be utiising it in NREGS primariy and in other schemes ater. PARTICIPATION IN INTERNATIONAL SPECIAL EVENTS Presented a paper on Anaysing the Pubic Sphere/Poitica Context: Learning from India at a two-day workshop on Generating Genuine Demand with Socia Accountabiity Mechanisms organised by The Communication for Governance & Accountabiity Program (CommGAP,) Word Bank in Paris, on November 01-02, 2007 Demand for Good Governance (DFGG) Summit organised by the Word Bank in Washington DC on June 02-03, 2008 Presentation on Improving Pubic Expenditure Outcomes of Mid-Day Mea and Nationa Rura Empoyment Guarantee Schemes through Socia Accountabiity Approaches: Fied Experiences from Rajasthan, India in a BBL event organised by SASDD team on June 04, 2008 Presentation on Community Monitoring of Absenteeism and Service Deivery in Heath Sector Rajasthan, India organised by the Resuts for Deveopment (R4D) Institute and the Word Bank under the Transparency and Accountabiity Programme (TAP) in Washington DC on March 25, 2010

6 thank you once again for aowing me to visit CUTS and earn more about the exceent work that you are doing, in addition to the TAP project...congratuations on an exceent study, and we ook forward to hearing more about your dissemination/advocacy soon!... it is exciting to hear that your study is getting such great recognition from a diverse set of stakehoders in India! Courtney Tomie Senior Programme Officer, R4D Institute Washington DC, USA Investment in accountabiity mechanisms by the government is a prerequisite to enhance the outcomes of the wefare schemes. Less than one percent of the budget of any scheme, if invested in using accountabiity mechanism, can do wonder. Parmesh Shah Lead Rura Deveopment Speciaist, Rura Deveopment Department South Asia Region (SASRD), The Word Bank, Washington The RTI project impemented by CUTS went beyond raising awareness to provide appication fiing and handhoding support. The resuts are convincing that this strategy worked. I beieve that the project has good potentia to be showcased as a mode for using RTI to advance citizen demand for good governance and reduce corruption. Vinay Bhargava Board Member, Partnership for Transparency, Washington DC, US We woud very much appreciate if CUTS coud be with us for a session on PETS. A note of gratitude for the wonderfu presentation and the anchoring of discussions during the workshop organised for the potentia grantees of the second ANSA Grants Programme. Gopakumar K Thampi, PhD Chief Operating Officer, ANSA-SAR & Goba Institute of Governance Studies BRAC University, Dhaka, Bangadesh The SASRD of the Word Bank partnered with CUTS on pioting Participatory Expenditure Tracking too in the context of provision of mid-day meas in the rura primary schoos. I found that CUTS took a keen interest in this piot and provided abe eadership to the project. J.V.R.Murty Water Institutions Deveopment Speciaist, WSP-SA The Word Bank Partners in Deveopment R;eso t;rs Government of India The Word Bank Apri 2011 CUTS Internationa D-217, Bhaskar Marg, Bani Park, Jaipur , India Ph: , Fx: , Emai: cart@cuts.org, Web: