Section 2 in National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme - AP Social Audit Rules, 2008
2. Definitions.
- In these rules unless the context otherwise requires: -(a)"Act" means the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (Central Act No. 42 of 2005)(b)"Civil Society" means any village community, non-official public spirited group or individuals who expressed in writing an interest or choose to participate in the public vigilance process in general and Social Audit process in particular.(c)"Commissioner" is the Commissioner of Rural Development who is responsible for taking follow up action on the findings of the social audit at the State level which could not be resolved at the Mandal Public Hearings.(d)"District Programme Coordinator" means the District Collector who is responsible for facilitating the conduct of social audit in the district, for smooth conduct of Social Audit Gram Sabhas and to take follow up action on the social audit report in the Mandal Public hearings.(e)"Government" means the State Government of Andhra Pradesh.(f)"Gram Sab has" shall ordinarily mean a body consisting of persons registered in the electoral rolls relating to a village comprised within the area of Panchayat at the village level as defined in the Constitution of India or A.P. Panchayat Raj Act, 1994 and rules made there under. However, for Social Audit purposes, Gram Sabha could mean meeting of one ward, village or habitation constituting residents of part of a Panchayat.(g)"Implementing Agency" includes any department of the Central Government or State Government, Zilla Parishad, Panchayat at intermediate level, Gram Panchayat or any local authority or Government or authorized by the Central Government or the State Government-to undertake the "implementation" of any work taken up under the NREGS(h)"Mandal" means a community development area within a District comprising a group of Gram Panchayats.(i)"Minimum wage" in relation to any area, means the minimum wage fixed by the State Government under Section 3 of the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 for agricultural labourers as applicable in that area.(j)"Notification" means notification published in the Andhra Pradesh Gazette and the word "notified" shall be construed accordingly.(k)"Official Functionary" shall mean all public servants either appointed by Government or elected by the public holding public office.(l)"Primary Stakeholder" means the wage seekers and their families who have worked under the EGS, and residents of the village where the EGS works are being carried out.(m)"Programme Officer (PO)" means the Mandal Parishad Development Officer(n)"Resource Persons" mean the persons Who will carry out the training and capacity building process for the Social Audit process.(o)"Social Audit Gram Sabha" is the special Gram Sabha to be held at least once every six months for this purpose. (Gram Sabha procedures regarding quorum, chair, announcement etc. would also apply to the Social Audit Gram Sabha). All words and expressions used but not defined in these rules have meaning assigned to them under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005.(p)"Social Audit of a Scheme" means auditing of a scheme by the primary stakeholders of the Scheme or with the active involvement of the primary stakeholders of the scheme. In context of National Rural employment Guarantee Scheme - AP, Social Audit includes verification of works, or facts on ground vis-a-vis official records taking into account the recorded or oral evidence, which is aided and facilitated by civil society organizations and/or Government.(q)"Government Orders / Memos / Executive Instructions" means the orders issued by the Government of Andhra Pradesh to indicate the process to be followed during a Social Audit.(r)"Social Auditors" means the members from the labourers' families or labourers themselves who shall be identified by the resource persons in an open Gram Sabha, trained in Social Audit processes and who will carry out the Social Audits and present the findings in the Social Audit Gram Sabha.(s)"Society" means the Society for Social Audit, Accountability and Transparency (SSAAT) registered under the Societies Act and which is the apex body at the State level for overseeing the process of social audits in mandals.(t)"Village Organisation of SHGs" means the federation of all SHGs at the village level facilitated by the Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP)(u)"Ward Sabha" means the meeting held at the ward level defined by the A.P. Panchayat Raj Act/Rules.(v)"Zone" is a cluster of adjoining districts as defined by Government in Panchayat from time to time.
