Social audit key to transparency, public participation: HIRD Director Dr. Chauhan
Dr Virender Singh Chauhan, Director of Haryana Institute of Rural Development (HIRD) said that Social audit is a powerful tool to ensure transparency, accountability and public participation in governance. He was addressing the concluding session of a five-day social audit training programme.
Girish Saini
Sep 13, 2026 07:56
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Nilokheri, September 13, 2026: Dr Virender Singh Chauhan, Director of Haryana Institute of Rural Development (HIRD) said that Social audit is a powerful tool to ensure transparency, accountability and public participation in governance. He was addressing the concluding session of a five-day social audit training programme.
Dr. Chauhan emphasized that effective social audits were essential to ensuring that government schemes reached all eligible beneficiaries and that implementation shortcomings were promptly identified and addressed.
Calling social audit a “Brahmastra” for transparency and public participation, he said it should not be reduced to a mere paperwork exercise. Trained Village Resource Persons must work with impartiality and responsibility, he added.
Training was conducted in 13 districts, including Karnal, Kurukshetra, Jhajjar, Jind, Kaithal, Mahendragarh, Nuh, Ambala, Bhiwani, Fatehabad, Hisar, Sonipat, Sirsa and Yamunanagar. Around 300 Village Resource Persons were trained and will now facilitate social audits in their respective villages.
Dr. Chauhan said public hearings were the “soul” of social audit as they enabled villagers to raise concerns and bring facts related to development works into the public domain.
Programme coordinator Dr Wazir Singh said participants were trained in record verification, community interaction, the social audit process and public hearings through practical sessions.
