Auroville accounting units dismantled

In May last year, the Governing Board of the Auroville Foundation decided to appoint an outside company of Chartered Accountants “for accounting and allied services” with effect from the Financial Year 2025-2026. The minutes of its meeting state the reasons for this decision: not all of Auroville’s in-house accounting units are professionally qualified; they are not competent to file all required statutory returns; and they have not submitted the accounts in time to the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. The Auroville accountants have challenged the reasons as being incorrect. Nevertheless, with effect from 1 April 2025, the once bustling offices of the Auroville accounting units Mukti, Omega and Abacus came to a standstill. More than 40 people have been dismissed. The decision of the Board also affects the Chartered Accountants in Pondicherry who earlier audited the accounts of all Auroville units. All accounting work has now been centralised in the Archives building in the Administrative Zone, and is executed by many young people who are not residents of Auroville. Chartered Accountant companies from Chennai process the final auditing and consolidation of all accounts before submission to the Comptroller and Auditor General of India in accordance with the Auroville Foundation Act.