Auroville Foundation issues residence criteria standing order

Key aspects of the new code are that full-time residence in Auroville is mandatory; any trips must be reported to the Human Resources Service (HRS); absences exceeding two weeks require prior approval from the HRS; and unauthorised absences beyond two weeks may result in “status termination”. Guests may only stay in allocated residences for a maximum of seven days and thereafter have to go to a guesthouse. Aurovilians must acquire permission from the Human Resources Service to host family members beyond seven days; or host a spouse; or live with elderly parents and minor children as “Permanent Guests”. Other strict rules are that only the AVFO media body can issue press releases about Auroville; all Aurovilians must work for 6 hours per day for 6 days per week, or 5 hours per day for 7 days per week and shall not be engaged in work or business outside of Auroville save for exceptional circumstances to be decided on a case-by-case basis by the Funds and Assets Management Committee constituted by the Governing Board (GB FAMC); pregnant women, nursing mothers, the elderly and the disabled will be offered work “suitable to their condition”; all those residing in Auroville must attend the Auroville Spiritual and Material Refresher programme, organised by the Human Resources Service; and social gatherings can only be organised in authorised locations that are published by the GB FAMC. Auroville residents are also expected “to participate in the building of the city” and to act “in strict compliance of the decisions of the statutory working groups, approved by the Governing Board”. Auroville residents shall also “submit an Annual Declaration as required by the Admission and Terminations Registry, in a template as prescribed by it with the due approval of the Governing Board, along with a yearly undertaking on compliance with Act, Rules, Regulations, other instructions of Competent Authority, and this Standing Order or its subsequent amendments if any.” Regarding household employees, the Order states, “In the spirit of a life dedicated to Auroville ideals, there shall be no servants” and “a Maintenance Service to manage and take care of all assets will be organised.”

Human Resources Team

On 16 December, the GB FAMC informed the community that it had established a sub-department of six Aurovilians, the “Human Resources Service” (HRS), to manage all matters related to the residents of Auroville. The GB FAMC specified that HRS will ensure that residents live full-time in Auroville; provide information on departures and arrivals for residents going out of Auroville for two weeks or less; receive applications for leaving Auroville and approve such applications for residents wishing to be away for more than two weeks; ensure that residents work full-time in Auroville; invite residents involved in business activities outside Auroville for interaction to ensure they are given the appropriate status options to relate to Auroville, should they wish to retain their private activities; receive and process applications for Residents wishing to host a house guest in an Auroville asset for longer than seven days; receive and process applications for residents wishing to host a “permanent guest” in their allocated residence (e.g., a spouse, or aged/infirm parents/close family members); design and organise the Spiritual and Material Refresher program for all Residents, at a periodicity determined by the Governing Board. “For all the above, the HRS may invite you to an interactive meeting or visit your residence or workplace. Additionally, the Human Resources Service will compile a database of available work opportunities for residents. Once this database is ready, it will be uploaded to the Auroville website. All residents are requested to extend their full cooperation and approach this effort with transparency, as a joint initiative towards the betterment of Auroville,” wrote the GB FAMC.

Responses to the Standing Order and HRS constitution

On 28 November, the Working Committee constituted by the Residents' Assembly (RA WCom) released a mass bulletin stating that the Standing Order “aims to forcefully establish a regimented society and is blatantly in contradiction with the Charter, the Dream and the quoted works of Sri Aurobindo that aim at an inner discovery and growth of a group soul; does not respect the letter and the spirit of the Auroville Foundation Act as recognized by various orders of the Madras High Court; and does not respect proper procedure and the spirit of Auroville”.

On 18 December, the RA WCom offered further clarifications regarding the Standing Order and the constitution of the Human Resources Service (HRS) by the GB FAMC. It stated that neither the Standing Order nor the HRS have any legal basis. The Standing Order appears to have been issued disregarding the procedures established in the Auroville Foundation Standing Order Regulations published in the Gazette of India on 5.3.2011. Moreover, stated the RA WCom, the Auroville Foundation Act does not grant the Governing Board powers to establish residence criteria; the Order was issued without obtaining the required advice from the International Advisory Council and without the required consultation with the Residents’ Assembly; and the Order’s interpretation of Sri Aurobindo’s and Mother’s vision is severely flawed by selectively using quotes without context, and so presenting a distorted interpretation of their writings, particularly regarding the nature of Auroville as a spiritual experiment. “The Mother consistently emphasised the importance of flexibility, plasticity, and suppleness in the development and governance of the community. The rigid and dogmatic nature of these regulations contradicts this fundamental principle of freedom and self discovery,” wrote the RA WCom. It also faulted many practical aspects of the order and the HRS. “The requirement for residents to participate in mandatory Spiritual and Material Refresher programmes goes against the core principles of spiritual freedom that both Sri Aurobindo and the Mother emphasised; the restrictions on guests, the requirement for permissions for absences over two weeks, and the limitations on external work are neither practical nor aligned with Auroville’s reality; the Order also contains provisions that infringe on basic human rights and constitutional freedoms such as the restrictions on freedom of expression, assembly, movement, and association; the threat of expulsion for various infractions, without clear due process, is not in accordance with the legally established regulations of the Auroville Foundation and the orders of the Madras High Court.”