Experiencing the Working Committee

Christine: What is the Working Committee and what is its work?

Carel: The Working Committee of the Residents’ Assembly is an Auroville working group that is constituted by the Auroville Foundation Act. The Act mentions that its function is “to assist the Residents’ Assembly or, as the case may be, the Governing Board, in discharging its duties under this Act.” This is a very broad description. To help people understand its work, we published a long list of our work areas and the responsibilities which we have been dealing with in the past years. During the selection process, I spoke about each of these in detail.

A major job seems to be maintaining contact with officials of the Government of India in New Delhi.

Yes, by correspondence and by paying regular visits. Before COVID, we were in New Delhi at least once every two months, interacting with the Ministry of Human Resource Development or HRD Ministry [recently renamed the Ministry of Education, eds.] on Auroville affairs; with the Ministry of Home Affairs on visa issues; with the Ministry of Finance on the Goods and Services Tax and on income tax exemptions; and with other ministries on a case by case basis. 

The most important ministry is the Ministry of Education which is the nodal ministry for the Auroville Foundation. We have been interacting with this Ministry on specific topics relating to the Auroville Foundation, such as the changing of the Rules of the Auroville Foundation, pending since 1997; the appointment of the members of the International Advisory Council, vacant for the last four years; the appointment of the Secretary of the Auroville Foundation, vacant since June 2019; the appointment of members of the Governing Board, who vacated office in November last year; and the Government of India grant for Auroville and the Auroville Foundation. This grant was on average Rs 16 crores in the last few years. However, in this financial year the grant has been substantially reduced to about Rs 1.5 crores. All this suggests that the Auroville Foundation is not ranking high in the Ministry’s thoughts and that regular contact is necessary to remind them of Auroville’s existence and its needs. 

What about the contact with officials of the Tamil Nadu Government?

The contact is on many levels. We have been interacting with secretaries of the Tamil Nadu Government in Chennai on how a New Town Development Authority could be set up to protect Auroville; how coastal protection can be ensured, as some of our beach communities will be disappearing into the sea if no action is taken; and how the Auroville Foundation can consolidate the lands in the city area of Auroville so that the Auroville Master Plan can manifest. We also have regular interactions with the Collector, the sub-Collector, the Tahsildar and the Block Development Officer of the Villupuram district. The COVID-19 situation brought contact with the Tamil Nadu Health Secretary and the Block Medical Officer. Last but not least, there are many interactions with the police to protect the lands of Auroville from encroachment, and when issues arise involving individual Aurovilians.

How was the Working Committee’s collaboration with the former Governing Board of the Auroville Foundation?

Sometimes it was difficult. We were expecting active help in manifesting Auroville – promoting and ensuring the growth and development of Auroville is a prime function of the Board – but that was not always given. The Chairman has been consistently helpful, as was one Board member who graciously assisted with the appeal of the Auroville Foundation in an income tax matter and in the highway issue. Other members gave a lot of their time in helping out on certain occasions. But we also encountered mistrust and lack of cooperation. 

Can you highlight one or more issues where the expected help was not given?

A major one is the land. In June 2020 we expressed to the Chairman our deep concern that Auroville will not be able to manifest unless the Auroville Foundation owns all the land within the City Area. We asked the Board to request the HRD Ministry for a grant or a long-term interest-free loan to purchase the remaining land in the City Area of Auroville; and to interact with the Government of Tamil Nadu to get statutory protection for Auroville and approve necessary land acquisition in the City Area. Though the Chairman responded that he shares the concerns and would take the matter up with the HRD Ministry, we have never been informed about the follow up on our request. The request was repeated in the Working Committee’s submission to the Governing Board for its meeting in November last year. But the minutes of that meeting, which were only received in the last week of February this year, only mention that the proposals are recommended for taking necessary action by the new Board and the Ministry as appropriate.

And the mistrust?

There are many instances. A major example is the Board’s secret decision to ask for an investigation by India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the accusations of an individual named Vikram Ram who is living outside Auroville. He has been spreading malicious and unfounded allegations about Auroville and individual Aurovilians to high Government of India officials and through postings on Facebook, on other social media platforms and on the internet. 

The Board made this decision at the instigation of an Enquiry Committee appointed by the Board and consisting of three of its members. Though the Committee gave opportunity to Vikram Ram to substantiate his accusations, and gave Mr. Srinivasmurty, our Under Secretary, a hearing to defend himself against specific allegations against him, it did not give such opportunity to any of the accused Aurovilians, and neither asked the Working Committee for its views. Instead, and even though the committee explicitly stated it was not equipped to deal with the complaints, it concluded that there was a prima facie case for investigation and recommended to the Board to hand the matter over to a central investigative agency. 

The Board accepted the recommendation of the Enquiry Committee. But it never communicated this decision to the Working Committee, and ignored the Working Committee’s request for a copy of the Enquiry Committee’s report. Also the minutes of the meeting in which this decision was taken were not shared with the Working Committee. Auroville only got the report from Vikram Ram who had obtained a copy from the HRD Ministry after filing a Right to Information application, and who shared it with all Auroville. [A long article on this issue has been published in the January 2020 issue of Auroville Today # 366, eds.]

You also mentioned the lack of cooperation ...

An example of the lack of cooperation is the implementation of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 in Auroville. This Act aims at protecting women from sexual harassment at their workplace. Large companies have to constitute an Internal Complaints Committee which investigates an allegation of sexual harassment, and then recommends to the employer to take certain actions against the perpetrator of the crime. 

But the implementation of this Act for the Auroville Foundation is complicated as the Auroville Foundation consists of over 700 small units, and the Act was evidently not written for such a complex structure. After obtaining the advice of three senior lawyers, the Working Committee constituted an Internal Complaints Committee which was tasked to deal with all instances of sexual harassment, whether occurring in any of the Foundation units, or involving a household worker, or a guest or volunteer. The Working Committee was designated as ‘employer’. 

This structure was not only deemed legally sound by the three lawyers but was also approved by the Minister for Human Resource Development. Yet, two Governing Board members raised objections against the structure, and consequently, the Working Committee was unable in a proven case of sexual harassment to take action as ‘employer’ against the perpetrator and the workplace, who were both uncooperative in following the recommendations of the ICC. 

To date this issue is not resolved. In its meeting of September 2019, the Board advised that the Auroville Foundation office organize a workshop on the subject to arrive at a legally tenable decision by inviting experts and legal advisors in the field, and that the Office of the Secretary may seek advice from the Ministry of Law through the HRD ministry. All this has not happened.

Is the Board always correctly informed about what happens in Auroville?

I don’t think so. For example, the Board stated in the minutes of its meeting of January 2020 that the Working Committee was not adhering to the government’s Travel and Daily Allowance expenditure. We were flabbergasted. because the Working Committee, when in New Delhi, always stays for free at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Delhi Branch. The Board had not raised this issue during its meeting with the Working Committee, so that we could have corrected the mistake. 

The mistrust of these Board members may also have its origins in the many emails the Board members have constantly been receiving from some Aurovilians or some groups of Aurovilians, complaining about happenings in Auroville and trying to involve the Board. One of the Board members even decided to regularly come to Auroville to meet members of the community including, as he wrote, “those against whom the Working Committee have some issues,” to ascertain facts first-hand. We replied that we had no issue against anybody, and that we hoped that his visit would lead to an increase in communal harmony. It didn’t. 

Is the Working Committee involved in other important issues for Auroville’s long term development?

A major issue is finding ways to secure and protect the land. Then there is the issue of visas, where we have been successful, in close coordination with the Secretary of the Auroville Foundation, to get satisfactory arrangements for Aurovilians, volunteers and guests. During the COVID time, the Working Committee was very active in trying to prevent cases in Auroville, for which it set up and acted jointly with the COVID Task Force. Lastly, there is the issue of the official Entry and Exit regulations, with its accompanying documents the Entry and Exit Policies. We are working on fine-tuning these documents. 

But apart from these, the work is very much on a case by case basis and we had little time to think about future planning. Moreover, other working groups have their own planning tasks, such as on economy and financial management which rest with the Funds and Assets Management Committee (FAMC), and planning the township which is the work of the Town Development Council (TDC). 

Did the Working Committee collaborate with other major working groups? 

With some more than with others. We had an intense interaction with the Auroville Council which we met once a week and more often when necessary. Many decisions were taken jointly. Together with some FAMC members, we met with the Land Board every week to discuss ongoing land issues such as land protection and purchase of new lands. The Entry Board sought our help in difficult cases. With the Town Development Council there was less contact. With the FAMC we met when required, and worked jointly with them when necessary.

For example, when the Goods and Services Tax (GST) was introduced and we had to figure out how it applied to Auroville, a small group of FAMC and Working Committee members visited authorities in Calcutta and New Delhi, with the result that we were able to obtain a GST exemption on all maintenances paid by Auroville. 

We were also collaborating with the FAMC in the Government of India Grants Group, which we set up in order to streamline the allocation, the accounting and the project management of all Government of India grants to Auroville. It was a very useful group, but in January 2020 the Governing Board decided for formal reasons that there is no need for a Gol grant group and that this task should be performed by FAMC, thus effectively removing the Working Committee from all Government of India grant work. 

We just learned from its minutes of its meeting in November that the Board changed its position. It now directed the Working Committee to submit to the Secretary, Auroville Foundation, detailed proposals on the revised Government of India grant estimate 2020-2021 and the Government of India budget estimate 2021-2022 for scrutiny and recommending to the Ministry of Education.

Are these working groups accountable to the Working Committee?

No, each working group has its own mandate and responsibility. The Working Committee is not the highest or ultimate authority. In theory, all working groups are accountable to the Residents’ Assembly, but this is not enforced. Some working groups report regularly about their work, others irregularly or not at all, and the Residents’ Assembly has not evolved a system to ensure such a regular reporting, let alone a system to express its displeasure with the work of a working group or to request its dismissal or the dismissal of one or more of its members. 

So if the Working Committee is not happy with the performance of another working group …

Then, in essence, there is nothing the Working Committee can do. For example, the FAMC has become rather unpopular because of its Code of Conduct for units of the Auroville Foundation, which is considered too bureaucratic, and the FAMC is seen as too authoritarian. Likewise, the TDC is criticized because of its lengthy site and building approval processes, which are considered as a bureaucratic barrier to progress, and for the absence of detailed development plans. But the Working Committee cannot interfere. 

Do you agree with the criticism?

Speaking as an individual, and not representing the Working Committee, yes, but only to some extent. It’s easy to make a strong judgment about a decision or a non-decision of a working group, but those judgments rarely take the complexity of the work of a working group into account. The FAMC, for example, has to act in accordance with an increasing number of regulations from the Government of India to manage the assets of the Auroville Foundation and to ensure a proper internal accounting of all units and trusts of the Foundation. That’s a huge job and we should acknowledge the substantial progress the FAMC has been making, and understand that it is in this context that a Code of Conduct has been formulated. 

Likewise, the TDC has had serious difficulties to function as, till recently, it only had two members and few staff doing the work and no government funds to support it. Moreover, it is blocked in much of its planning work as there are such different points of view in the community on the implementation of the Master Plan. 

With that understanding the issues that are cause for concern should be addressed, perhaps not by the working group itself, but by an unbiased group such as the Auroville Council.

Has the last Working Committee made any serious mistakes?

Every working group and every person makes mistakes. So did we in this Working Committee, for example when misjudging a situation. I personally regret three. The first is, we overruled the objections from people in the community towards a person becoming an Aurovilian, as these objections were invalid in Indian law. But in hindsight I believe it was a wrong decision, seeing how the person later behaved in Auroville.

Another was sending a letter too quickly to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways when a highway was threatened to be laid through Auroville. This happened during the holidays, when few other members were in office. I pleaded that the Ministry should protect the Forecomers sanctuary; this was interpreted as agreeing with the rest of the proposed routing. Happily, this mistake was later corrected by the Highway Team. The new alignment is now north of Auroville.

The third one was recommending that an Aurovilian who was beaten by another Aurovilian file a police complaint. This happened after the offender publicly expressed that he did not feel any remorse and refused to apologize. The Working Committee has no powers to impose a reparation of any sort. As not doing anything would have left the offended party without any recourse, we finally recommended to her to file a police complaint. But we hadn’t anticipated the subsequent arrest of the offender and his detainment in jail till he was granted bail. We all felt very bad about this. But the issue itself is still not resolved, neither at the level of the Indian judiciary nor within Auroville. 

The Working Committee is often seen as a ‘power’ group. Is this correct?

No, it isn’t. The only ‘power’ is in appointing members of various groups, such as the members of the Internal Complaints Committee; and together with other working groups, selecting members of the Land Board and executives of the Matrimandir. For a major part, the work is administrative; another large part is conflict resolution with outside parties. Sometimes I refer to this group as the waste paper basket of the community. 

Is there not a risk of becoming cynical in this job?

There is a risk. For example, when you feel that members of the community try to use the Working Committee to resolve their personal relationship issues or problems with people they hired, or ask for the Working Committee’s intervention when their carpenter has not done his job. It is also sometimes difficult to continue doing your work when there are trust issues. I was once told by a member of the Governing Board that I was seen by other members as ‘always defending Auroville,’ so I was considered ‘not reliable’. It’s a point of view with which I do not agree, and I have shrugged it off. But it rankled. 

Do you consider that your work was “work for The Mother?”

Aie!! I don’t like to say that. I see too many of my own personal shortcomings that I have any right to make such statements. The maximum I can say is that I believe I’ve worked hard for Auroville and that I hope that I have been a bit open to The Mother, so that She was able to work through me. 

What was a major learning for you in these years?

The big learning came during the first three-year term when Mandakini and Elisa were members of the Working Committee. They are very process-oriented, while I am goal-oriented. I want to realize things and am not interested in an elaborate process to reach there. They showed me that I was often too fast in my approach and that things could be done differently. I owe them a debt of gratitude for that. 

How well did the last seven working committee members work together?

Very well, in fact. The work is too vast to be done by one person and a specialised task division spontaneously developed with everybody taking up a share of the work. The three Tamil members, Ranjith, Partha and Selvaraj, each took up a large part. Ranjith focused on land matters, Partha had an almost daily contact with the local police officers, and Selvaraj interacted with local officials. Sauro’s strength was in land and planning matters, and Chali and I brought some skills in writing and communication, as well as our experience of being in previous Working Committees. Jürgen did a fantastic job in organizing the Auroville celebrations in New Delhi, Calcutta, and Baroda. The team was great. 

Do you have any suggestions for those who will take up the job?

I suggest they intensify the contacts with the central and state governments. I also suggest that they promote that one or two active senior Aurovilians become a member of the Governing Board. This was the case in the past when Roger Anger, Aster Patel and Ashok Chatterjee were members. Having Aurovilians on the Board would, I believe, make the Board be more in consonance with The Mother’s statement that Only those who have resolved to stay in Auroville for good have the right to intervene in its organization. It would prevent mishaps such as requesting the involvement of the CBI, or Board members acting on accusations from individual Aurovilians. More importantly, those members would be able to strengthen the Board in helping the development of Auroville.