Stepping up to the task: the work of the COVID Task Force

How did the COVID Task Force come into being?

Prashant: In early March, when the pandemic was getting underway in India, the Working Committee began having meetings with major working groups to make preparations. Auroville was already being looked at very carefully by the authorities because so many foreigners and tourists were staying here. At one meeting, the Kottakuppam DSP and the Block Development Officer came and told us they wanted detailed information about where everybody – Aurovilians, guests, volunteers – was staying as well as their recent travel history.

This would be a lot of work, so Arul (from PTDC) and I suggested to the Working Committee that they form a core group to take up this responsibility as well as the overall coordination of the response to the pandemic to support the Working Committee.  

Angela: In the beginning we had no idea how it was going to develop and how we would manage. For example, it took a long time to get the data that the officials expected. There were about 700 guests and volunteers in Auroville at that time, but not all were officially registered so, with a lot of help from the Guest Facilities Coordination Group, we had to track each one down. We had to find out which Aurovilians had returned recently from abroad and ascertain if they needed medical screening. We also had to provide data on Indian nationals who had travelled outside the State and outside India.

Tejaswini: Our main focus at the beginning was getting all that data, but we also looked at the urgent areas that nobody else was dealing with. For example, our health services are very basic in their facilities, with limited human resources and budget, and had to be upgraded as far as possible. Our essential services were also facing difficulties because, after lockdown, their workers could no longer come, so we asked them what kind of help they needed to continue. Another area was the food outlets for Aurovilians and Aurocard holders. Initially, they were overwhelmed because some people were panic buying, afraid that the stock would be finished, yet they were only allowed to stay open for shorter hours and were expected to ensure social distancing. And, very importantly, we had to make sure that the food supply from Pondicherry continued. The Working Committee was in touch with the Pondicherry administration and police to ensure our food supplies vehicles were not stopped at the border. 

Angela: We also had to provide everybody with essential equipment, like masks and sanitisers.  The pharmacy ran out of masks very quickly, but units like AIRE, Miniature, Colours of Nature and Upasana stepped in and started making masks.

Then we needed to protect the vulnerable sections of the community. From our Residents Service database, we compiled a list of people over 60 years – there were 759 of them – and asked them if they needed help. 

Induja: Some of them, particularly the ‘younger’ old ones, wanted to volunteer yet, according to government orders, they were meant to stay indoors and this was tough for them. 

Tejaswini: We were working in close coordination with the government authorities, but another problem was that every day the official announcement about the lockdown provisions changed. For two weeks we were always on edge.  One day we would be told by the Central Government that this is what the lockdown means, so we would make plans to implement it, but the next day the Tamil Nadu Government would announce something different, so we would plan again. Then the third day the district authorities would come with a different announcement again. For example, the Tamil Nadu government said shops could be open until 9 pm, but the district decided that everything would close at 1 o’clock.  

Prashant: For the first four weeks we and the Working Committee were completely burned out.  We were working 14 hour days, exchanging emails from 7 o’clock in the morning till 11 o’clock at night, responding to new information from the authorities. 

Tejaswini: We were hoping to have no COVID positive cases in Auroville, but we had to be ready for the worst. The Working Committee obtained permission from the Acting Secretary that Swagatham Guesthouse, the VIP guesthouse at Bharat Nivas, could be used as an isolation centre in case it should prove necessary, so we prepared an isolation camp there. Two guests who were showing symptoms were taken to Indira Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute for testing. They tested negative, but when they returned to Auroville they still needed to be isolated for 14 days as they had been in the hospital isolation camp, so we did that at Swagatam.  They were the only ones to be kept there so far, but it gave us the opportunity to put a system in place for that situation. 

What is the protocol for testing?

Tejaswini: The Block Medical Officer suggested that Auroville provide a location where official screening could take place. It was agreed to use one of the patient recovery rooms at Santé for that, as it has a separate entrance. The officials came daily to do the required screening and the Sante team provided logistical support. This lasted for six weeks, but when no new cases for screening came up, it was agreed that Santé itself would conduct the screenings. The doctor there can then decide if people need to be sent to JIPMER for further testing. So far, five people have been sent for testing in JIPMER – two Aurovilians and three guests – but they have all tested negative.

Induja: We were worried that if one case emerged in Auroville, the whole of Auroville would have to be shut down, so we did a community clustering mapping exercise.

Prashant: The idea was that we would divide the whole of Auroville into smaller clusters of communities and request people to only move and interact with others in their cluster. Then, if we had a case in one community, the lockdown would only be in that cluster, and other people would provide them with the necessary support: it would be a selective lockdown of part of Auroville. But in the end the idea was dropped. 

All this seems like a huge amount of work and responsibility for such a small task force. 

Angela: But we had a lot of help. We collaborated very well with the Working Committee, with whom we met almost every day initially via video calls, and they took on huge tasks, like the repatriation of visitors and volunteers, as well as dealing with the authorities to issue permits for our food vans and travel permits for essential workers etc.

Tejaswini: The security service and the ambulance teams silently did a wonderful job. Our hats go off to them because they were really the front-liners in this emergency. 

Prashant: But we couldn’t have managed without the volunteers who helped in the running of so many of our essential activities. Initially, when we made a call for volunteers we got an amazing response: more than a hundred people signed up.  Amy did a great job coordinating them. We would tell her we needed a volunteer for this task and she would go through the list and allocate someone.

Tejaswini: Most of us are managing things over the phone and in meetings, but the volunteers are in the field all the time and they are so dedicated. They were constantly updating us about what was happening in their sector and what could be improved.

Prashant: After two weeks they said they could organise the work in their sectors themselves, which substantially reduce our workload.

How has Auroville as a whole responded to the lockdown?  After all, there’s quite a strong anti-authority bias in the community…. 

Tejaswini:  Not everybody followed all the regulations. We would get long emails from people complaining that so and so in their community was not strictly obeying the guidelines. We also had a few people with psychological issues. We reached out to Mattram, the psychological counselling service, and the Auroville Council for helping with this.

Prashant: We had long discussions about how to deal with people who were not following the regulations, but we realised all we could do was remind people about what was expected.  

Tejaswini: When we communicated we had been told there could be a certain relaxation in the lockdown conditions – for example, some workers could now return to work – some people told us this is not okay, we should not relax the lockdown yet. So there are different points of view in the community.

Were the authorities happy with how Auroville responded?

Prashant: Early on the Collectors of Pondicherry and Villupuram visited Auroville. They were concerned that Aurovilians might be coming into Pondicherry or moving around and they told us we should strictly follow all the regulations. But as time went on, things became very smooth with the Kottakuppam DSP and the Vanur Block Development Officer. They appreciated that we worked very hard to provide all the information they needed and to respect all the lockdown regulations, and they told us we were doing a good job inside Auroville.

At the beginning, the police came several times to inspect our food outlets, but then they realised we were way ahead of what was happening elsewhere. After that, they did not come inside Auroville but only controlled what was happening on the tar roads and villages.  For example, all the Auroville food outlets on the tar road and in the villages had to shut down to prevent crowds of customers using them.

Is Auroville better prepared today for an emergency like this than it was a couple of months ago?  Or are there areas where more work still has to be done?

Tejaswini: There are so many unknowns in this whole thing we will never be able to say that we are well prepared.  

Prashant: We were lucky that nothing happened in the early stages of our work because we were certainly not ready. Now we are better prepared for certain eventualities. For example, we have a quarantine facility where we can support people if they have to be isolated. However, we are not a disaster-ready city when it comes to a medical emergency. We simply don’t have the medical facilities, so we would still have to depend a lot on places like JIPMER and PIMS hospitals in Pondicherry. 

 Were there lessons learned during the lockdown that you would like to see acted on in the future? 

Tejaswini: We became very aware of certain gaps that I would never have known about without this emergency. For example, we have only one pharmacist for the whole of Auroville, and our only pharmacy is not even located in the city centre.  

Prashant: It was amazing to see how Auroville groups can work together effectively in an emergency. But we definitely need to improve the database of residents, and all guests and volunteers should be registered so we always know exactly how many guests and volunteers there are in Auroville.

We also need to upgrade our hygiene and inspection systems.  At present we are a self-regulating society but we found this is not enough.  We should make hygiene inspection mandatory and certification and other hygiene protocols need to be put in place and followed. At the moment, Auroville Health Services has two inspectors who are doing an amazing job, but we have many food outlets and food processing units so we need ten of them to do the work. 

We also need to see how we can improve our food productivity and be self-sufficient in grains etc. to lessen our dependence on outside suppliers. We should have a tiffin service for senior Auroviians, patients and people who have difficulty moving around. 

Then there are planning issues. For example, how do we control the many roads and pathways into Auroville? We managed to shut some of them during the lockdown. Can we continue to do so afterwards? 

Finally, are we going to go back to being dependent on the tourist economy? I’ve heard that 50-70% of our present economy is based on the tourists. This is a chance to look at it again and to make a course correction.

Angela: One of the major experiences was that the Aurovilians re-appropriated Auroville. As the workers were not coming, each of us had to step up and do our part to keep our communities and Auroville functioning.  It created a sense of belonging; that this is our place again.  We should keep doing this and not lose it. 

What about our relationship with the bioregion? Did the emergency create a renewed appreciation of the need to work more closely with the villages?

Prashant: Absolutely. In our Task Force we didn’t focus beyond Auroville because of our limited capacity and resources, but there was an incident that was a real eye-opener for me. We were passing through a neighbouring village when we saw a huge group of people jostling to get supplies at the ration shop. There was no social distancing, many didn’t wear masks.  So I realised that we are only as strong as the weakest link. We may take all the necessary precautions in Auroville, but if the people living next to us are not doing this, we are as vulnerable as anywhere else. 

The medical thing is, of course, something new, but otherwise food security, water, agriculture etc. are all areas that we need to work on with the bioregion. We need to be more serious about regional planning; we can’t only focus upon our situation in Auroville. 

Do you think that when the emergency is lifted there will be a strong impulse in Auroville to return to ‘business as usual’?  Or will fundamental changes result?

Tejaswini: I strongly believe that something will change after this. During these weeks of lockdown people were thinking a lot about their lives, their work and their contribution to society. I want to remain positive and to believe that we, as a community, will adapt to the ‘new normal’ in an innovative way.

Induja: There was a lot of time for introspection.  I realised that just going to an office from 9-5 is not important. It is what you do that matters most, not where you do it from.  And certain habits may have been broken. As the lockdown eased, many of the Auroville volunteers could go back to their regular work, but one of them told me she would try to keep doing what she’d been helping with during the lockdown, at least for some hours a week, because “I don’t want to go back to the old normal”. 

Angela: I see this is an opportunity to make changes but already I see signs that we are happy to go back to the old ways, which is what happened after Cyclone Thane, so I’m a bit frustrated. I wish we could do certain things, like not basing the economy on tourism but the reality is that it supports our lives here.  I think we are so entangled in commitments and responsibilities that although we have a chance now, I don’t think we have the courage to make big changes.

Prashant: You can’t generalise. Several people will learn a lot of things and change but I think many things will go back to normal, like dependency on our tourist economy, because it would be really a bold step to do something different.  So I’m not sure that any fundamental changes will happen. 

Angela: I wonder if the virus has shaken us enough for us to make fundamental changes.

Prashant: I don’t think it has. Compared to some other parts of India, we’ve had it fairly easy here. If we’d had a case in Kuilapalayam and the village was locked down, it would have been a different experience. We wouldn’t have been able to go to the bakery, PTPS, Dental Centre, Health Centre, pharmacy – we would have had to go to JIPMER for all our medical supplies – so maybe that would have given us more of a shock to push us into making changes.

But surely it won’t be easy for our economy to return to normal as we are embedded in a larger global system which is in freefall. 

Tejaswini: I agree. The economic impact on Auroville will be huge, which is why we are recommending that this is one of the priority areas for the new team which will succeed us. Other groups, like the BCC, FAMC and ABC are already working on this. We’ve put certain things in place, now it is up to the new team to carry the work forward.