The General Meeting of May 28th

“Fabulously inspiring,” was one of the comments made after the General Meeting of May 28th, in which the Study Group explained what it had been doing, and the proposed new members of the Working Committee and Auroville Council introduced themselves. The summer exodus notwithstanding, there was a large attendance and the explanation and introductions were received by the Aurovilians with quietness and maturity.

Yet it wasn’t all smooth sailing. The Study Group explained that it had decided not to deal with the feedback it had received from the community on the proposed new members, as the Group felt it didn’t have the mandate to do so. Instead, it had informed each of the new members about the feedback they had received, without mentioning the source, and then left it to the person to deal with it. Also, the other proposed group members were informed about the feedback, and were asked if the person was nevertheless acceptable to their group. This, perhaps predictably, had not resulted in anyone stepping out of the process.

The meeting did not accept it. It questioned the ethics of self-nominated people themselves dealing with the negative feedback against them and requested the Study Group and the Residents’ Assembly, together with others who volunteer, to design a process and mechanism that ensures that the feedback received is dealt with in a responsible way.

A second criticism concerned the maturity of the proposed members. Had they all lived in Auroville for the minimum period of five years? Had they been active in major community areas? It appeared that these criteria, which had been accepted by the Residents’ Assembly in 2006, had not been implemented as strictly as some residents would have liked.

Another major criticism was the perceived lack of competence of the members of the Working Committee. Pointing out that a new government has taken charge in New Delhi, which may have repercussions for Auroville, and that a new Secretary will replace the present Secretary Mr. Bala Baskar when he resigns in August, the need for experienced and well-educated people to interact with government officials in New Delhi and Chennai was voiced. The suggestion was made that the three members of the outgoing Working Committee would not, as had been proposed, continue for a 6-months roll-over period, but instead would step back and take up the role of ‘resource person’ as soon as three well-qualified people have been found. These new people would need to bring in the skills and competencies to fill the gaps in the present group.

Asked why those who are qualified to do the work were not present in the proposed teams, a fault in the selection process was acknowledged: these competent people, who have experience in serving on the Working Committee or Council, will not nominate themselves. They have to be asked and convinced to take up the job in the interest of the community.

It was also noted that all new proposed members of the Working Committee (in their various functions) were male (with one lone exception) and predominantly Tamilian. The meeting suggested that the replacement of the outgoing Working Committee members would include a few North Indians, who are relatively senior, well-educated and possibly female.

The three-hour meeting did not reach any firm conclusions. It was agreed that the Residents’ Assembly Service will call for another meeting soon, to discuss proposals to meet the objections.

Can the groups begin their work? A decision was not reached, but the groups are all eager to start.