Governing Board meets

A few hours after the visit of the Prime Minister, the Governing Board of the Auroville Foundation started its 51st meeting, which took place over two days. All five members were present – Dr. Karan Singh, Dr. Prema Nandakumar, Dr. Nirima Oza, Dr. Satchindananda Mohanty, Dr. Anirban Ganguly – and ex-officio member Dr. Saravana Kumar, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Human Resource Development.

The Board first reviewed the visit of the Prime Minister, which, said Dr. Karan Singh, had been a very successful and significant event. He congratulated the entire Auroville community for the sustained hard work and dedication that went into preparing for the Prime Minister’s visit.

The Board then discussed with the Working Committee its report. The Working Committee expressed its concern that the Governing Board is still not complete with the appointment of two members pending and that also the International Advisory Council had not yet been reconstituted. It furthermore observed that the approval of the Auroville Foundation (Entry and Removal of names of Persons in the Register of Residents) Regulations, submitted by the Board to the Ministry in December 2013, was urgently awaited as well as the Ministry’s approval of the proposed amendments of the Rules of the Auroville Foundation, which are pending since 1997.

GOI grants

The Working Committee submitted a detailed overview of the spending of the Rs 15 crore grant of the Government of India for the present financial year, and its budget proposal of Rs 23 crore for the next year. The supervision of these grants is now done by a Government of India Grant Group which supervises a project management office with an architect and a civil engineer to monitor the quality and quantity of construction, and a finance department with a chartered accountant to supervise and approve the flows of money.

Entry Visa

Visa issues remain a source of concern. The Board was informed about the recent changes in the visa policy for Auroville. The Foreigners Regional Registration Office may now issue five-year Residential Permits / Stay Visa extensions to those who arrive in India with a shorter term Entry Visa, if the formal request by the Secretary of the Auroville Foundation to the Indian Mission abroad which issued the short term Entry Visa, had been to grant an Entry Visa for 5 years. This decision is very welcome as not all Indian Missions give the five-year visa as recommended, but a visa for a shorter period instead The Ministry did not amend the limitation of three entries a year on this Visa, which is a problem for Aurovilians who have to travel abroad often.

Volunteer and Conference Visa

The Ministry of Home Affairs also decided that volunteers may be given an Entry Visa for a three months period, upon the recommendation of the Secretary. This period is not extendable and the visa is for one entry only.

A Conference Visa is mandatory for those wishing to attend workshops and conferences in Auroville. A number of Conference Visas have meanwhile been issued on the recommendation of the Secretary.

Tourist Visa limitations

The decision that holders of Tourist Visa are not allowed to attend workshops and seminars has not changed. As one of the objectives of Auroville is to develop a learning society for the benefit of people from India and all over the world, which is done through formal courses, seminars, workshops or volunteering, the Ministry of Home Affairs has been requested to allow foreign nationals holding a Tourist Visa to give or participate in seminars, workshops and courses given by and volunteer in Auroville.

Fundraising

There is a need to speedily develop the Auroville Township for which an increase of funds is required. A major source of support for Auroville can be achieved if large Indian corporations would make donations to Auroville from their Corporate Social Responsibility resources. The Working Committee requested the Board to issue a message on the occasion of Auroville’s 50th Anniversary inviting Indian Corporates and Public Sector to include the Auroville Foundation in the list of institutions that are eligible for donations from their Corporate Social Responsibility budgets.

Land sale permission

The Governing Board was requested to support the request made to the Prime Minister of India that the Auroville Foundation is given the required permissions to sell certain outlying lands (lands not located in the city and greenbelt area) as decided by the Residents’ Assembly of Auroville so that the privately-owned lands inside the city and greenbelt area can be purchased.

Tax relief for Indian donors of the Auroville Foundation

In most countries where Auroville International Centres have been established, donations to Auroville can be channeled through these centres and the donor can get 100% income tax relief. This is not the case in India.

The Governing Board has been requested to suggest to the Government of India to allow that donors of the Auroville Foundation can benefit from 100% tax relief without a qualifying limit for all donations made to the Auroville Foundation.

Auroville economy

On the second meeting day, after participating in the Bhoomi pujas for the Re-Centre and the Hive Hub [see pages 4 and 5], and the inauguration of the Auroville Archives [see below], the Board members listened to a presentation on the Auroville economy by Chartered Accountant, Mr. Manuel Thomas. This presentation focused on the difficulties facing the Auroville economy, including that of attracting external growth capital for Auroville enterprises, the need to explore sources for internal credit, and a proposal to do a six months’ study involving the Working Committee, the Funds and Assets Management Committee, the Auroville Board of Commerce and community members into the possible restructuring of the units under the Auroville Foundation. This proposal was accepted.

This was followed by a presentation by the Funds and Assets Management Committee on the difficulties facing the Auroville Foundation regarding the implementation of Goods and Service Tax caused by the legal structure of the Auroville Foundation, and the necessity of requesting a partial relief.

Beach losses

The last topic on the agenda was the loss of Auroville’s beach assets due to erosion. Over the years, Auroville has suffered a loss of almost Rs 2.5 crores (US $ 385,000) as buildings located on the coast have disappeared into the sea. (This amount does not include the value of land which has been lost). At present, erosion threatens the reception office of the Quiet Healing Centre and the guesthouse of Samarpan. The Board discussed possible options to prevent further loss of beach assets.

Water Ceremony

After meeting with the working groups, the Board members participated in the Water Ceremony by pouring waters from various Indian rivers in the lotus pond below the Matrimandir.