Emergency RA decision against land sales and exchanges

The Working Committee selected by the Residents’ Assembly (RA-WCom) called for an emergency decision of the Residents’ Assembly (RAD) regarding the sales and exchanges of Auroville owned lands. The RA-WCom alleged that the Governing Board of the Auroville Foundation (GB) has approved the proposal by the Secretary to exchange all Auroville lands outside the Master Plan area, totaling 1054 acres. This information had already been shared with the community in January of this year and started circulating again on the day of the most recent meeting of the GB, which took place on the 31st of May. The minutes of this meeting have not yet been published.

The RA Wcom stated that the land sales and exchanges will impact all Aurovilians on various levels, cause irreparable damage to Auroville’s physical body and will incur the loss of a number of areas of historical significance. It recalled that since 2022 there have been an unprecedented number of land exchanges that have been carried out by the current Secretary and her appointees with the approval of the GB, and that all these exchanges have been carried out without transparency or due process and without any consultation with those living and working on these lands. The RA-WCom stated that these exchanges have resulted in a conservatively estimated loss of over INR 200 crores (USD 24 million) to Auroville, in addition to the loss of important parts of Auroville’s physical body and legacy.

On July 8th, the Auroville Residents' Assembly Service (RAS), which is charged with Emergency RAD processes, reported that the community had approved the following resolution: “(1) An immediate pause on any further sale or exchange of Auroville properties; (2) A thorough review of the land deals undertaken by the current Secretary and authorized by the Governing Board, with a focus on reversal and restitution for any wrongful transactions; (3) A comprehensive investigation into all land exchanges conducted by the current administration since 2022; and (4) That future land deals are to be made with all due process, respecting the Auroville Foundation Act and its three authorities, namely the RA, the International Advisory Council (IAC) and the GB, and Indian law. These are necessary steps to protect Auroville's land and ensure its use aligns with the original purpose and ideals of peace and human unity.”

The RAS stated that a total of 945 valid votes have been submitted online and in-person, which exceeded the 10% quorum required for validating the decision (240 votes). 98,7% (933) participants voted in favour of the above resolutions, 0,4% (4) participants rejected it while 0,9% (8) participants didn't know.

In a message to the community, the Working Committee supported by the GB (GB-WCom), now consisting of five members, claimed that this RAD will be "catastrophic for Auroville". This view was contested by both the RA-WCom and the Auroville Council (AVC), which replied in a joint statement that land consolidation is an important goal but must be done transparently, ethically, and in accordance with the Indian laws, the Auroville Foundation Rules, 1997 and the Due Diligence Procedure (SOP) approved by a previous Secretary which was in use until 2021. They stated that recent exchanges have not met these standards causing significant financial losses to Auroville.