Revisiting Social Audit: A Conceptual Framework for Evaluating Agricultural Credit Cooperatives

Agricultural Credit Cooperatives (ACCs) play a crucial role in providing financial support to rural communities, particularly in regions like Ajmer, where agriculture remains a dominant livelihood. Social audit serves as an essential tool for evaluating the transparency, accountability, and governance of such cooperatives. However, existing social audit frameworks often lack specificity in assessing the unique functions of ACCs. This study revisits the social audit process and proposes a conceptual framework tailored to these cooperatives. The research highlights key performance indicators (KPIs), stakeholder engagement, and impact assessment metrics to enhance cooperative governance. It identifies transparency, financial inclusivity, and participatory mechanisms as essential components of an effective social audit framework. The study further discusses challenges such as resistance to transparency, lack of standardized procedures, and limited stakeholder awareness. A comparative analysis of international models, such as Bangladesh’s Grameen Bank and Kenya’s Cooperative Bank, offers insights into best practices. The study concludes that a revised social audit framework can improve the efficiency and sustainability of ACCs. It recommends policy interventions, including mandatory social audits and stakeholder training, to strengthen cooperative governance. Future research should focus on empirical validation to assess the effectiveness of the proposed framework in real-world scenarios.