Issue Nº402 – News in brief

In what one resident described as a ‘massacre’, an elegant bronze statue located behind the Media Centre at the Town Hall was unaccountably painted blue recently. Nobody has yet accepted responsibility.

On 7th December, the FAMC case filed by Namrita Gautier came up in the Madras High Court. The court had a choice to admit the case or to dismiss it outright. As it was allowed, the court directed the AVFO to file the counter argument. On Monday 19th December 2022, the Madras High Court heard a petition that was submitted in July 2022 regarding the appointment of a new FAMC by the Office of the Secretary and the Governing Board. The RA Working Committee subsequently reported that “After careful consideration and with the advice of our legal counsels it was decided to withdraw the petition, in order to submit a new one with updated information.”

The FO appointed FAMC reports that it is taking forward a centralized platform for all Auroville trusts. Also that a total revamp of BCC operations has been done and methods put in place for bringing efficiency in collection of contributions at unit and individual level and streamlining expenditures to municipal services. During the scrutiny of the contributions to city services, it was ascertained that over six hundred residents do not contribute to the city services, and they will approach these residents to participate in the contributions and hear any concerns.

One new initiative is the digitising and centralisation of all Auroville accounts. The Foundation appointed FAMC also remarked that the group does not believe in parallel governance/ administration, nor can Auroville’s economy afford the phenomenon of Aurovilians being financially supported when they are resisting the Master Plan. Therefore a few members who were in RA appointed working groups have been put on bridging maintenance to help them find other work in the community than with the ‘working groups’. “This has been a painful process with no other alternative.” Those who have been put on the bridging maintenance will be asked if they need a basic minimum care package at the end of their BM period. 

The Housing Service is responsible for maintaining the database of all the housing assets of Auroville. In the past attempts were made by many Housing Service teams to compile this data through a communitywide survey but were not successful.

There is a database that stores all the information about housing details; however, there are a lot of gaps in the information. To address these gaps in the data, the Foundation appointed Housing Service is commencing a survey of all housing assets, to which they will dedicate themselves for three months. An app has been made to facilitate the recording of the data, including GPS location, and the latest pictures etc. of the assets.

In a letter sent to Dr. Jayanti Ravi and members of the Land Board sent by the four Working Groups selected by the Residents’ Assembly, they point out that they have come to know that land exchanges are in process and at least two have been finalised over the last months. According to different sources, these exchanges have resulted in huge financial losses to Auroville. 

One example of a huge financial loss to Auroville concerns a land exchange in October 2022 involving 1.50 acres of highly valuable Auroville land located on the Tindivanam highway. This was exchanged for 2.15 acres of farmland without access located within the Master Plan area. The Auroville land located on the highway is worth approximately Rs. 7.5 Crore while the land purchased inside the Industrial Zone of the Auroville Master Plan is approximately worth Rs. 1.5. This is a financial loss of approximately 6 crores to the Auroville Foundation. 

The letter concludes, “Until such time as there is transparency from and due process being followed by the Office of the Secretary, Auroville Foundation, and the Land Board, we, the four working groups selected by and therefore rightfully representing the Residents’ Assembly, demand that any and all land exchange considerations stop immediately.” 

The FO ATDC announced that the Crown Road work will restart with a stretch of the Crown inaccessible until the end of December 2022. Since 29th November, teams of road workers have restarted dismantling the existing road. To allow traffic flow to continue, cycle paths have been widened in several places to allow for motorised vehicles. The School Board is concerned for the safety of all the children cycling to and from schools as children are now forced to share the narrow pathways with motorised vehicles and several accidents have been reported.

The RA TDC pointed out that “The seeming inability to properly plan construction in phases and in a manner which would allow for traffic to be rerouted to cause least possible disruption impairs the freedom of movement of many of our more vulnerable residents.” They are also concerned by the number of cables and pipes that have been broken during the digging works and conclude “We cannot help but notice that the current implementation of infrastructure works lack any proper coordination with the infrastructure group, as well any checks on obvious ground realities”.

The FO ATDC clarified that they are aiming to open the Crown soon only for pedestrians and cyclists, once the sub-layers are complete and the road top surface is rough but able to be cycled.

The Foundation appointed L’Avenir/ATDC has written to the community explaining that no tree plantation can take place without explicit permission from them, adding “Any resident found to be planting without permission shall face consequences.”

The RA WC and FAMC subsequently wrote that “This statement is baseless and may be discarded.” 

It is estimated that approximately 130 Aurovilians who have completed their Entry Process are still waiting to be added to the Register of Residents (RoR). There is no clarity as to why the Office of the Secretary is not doing this. The Council and RA Working Committee clarified that those residents who have completed their Newcomer process and have been confirmed as Aurovilians by the Entry Board, even if not entered into the RoR, are members of the Auroville community and are welcome to participate in Residents’ Assembly decision-making processes.

Over the past weeks, the RA Working Committee reported that there has been once again an alarming rise of visa issues for a number of Aurovilians. The Secretary of the Auroville Foundation has resumed issuing short-term recommendations for long-time Aurovilians, and apparently has refused to give a letter for a new Aurovilian on the grounds that he is not doing valid work for Auroville (he is part of an RA selected working group).

The International Advisory Council (IAC) and the AVI Board met for their second exchange via Zoom on 15th November 2022. Dena Merriam, Gabi Gillessen and HP Rama participated from the IAC’s side and 13 members from the AVI Board. It was agreed to meet in person in Auroville in mid-February 2023.

AVI explained it is engaged in many fields, while the IAC members said they have many individual contacts in Auroville, and aim to understand all points of view. Now the question is how to move forward, and how to find a concrete way to ease the tensions. The IAC members also explained that until now they are not functioning well as a group, they all have different approaches, and a greater dialogue and clarity about the IAC’s role is needed. The exchange with the Governing Board has been limited so far, and they have not received any Governing Board meeting minutes.

Dena reported that she is working with the Secretary, Dr. Ravi, on the visa issue and that she is willing to discuss all 140 pending cases with her. She said that everyone in Auroville will get a 1-year visa which will allow time to work on 5-year visas. AVI members underlined that it is not only the visa problems and the fear of being thrown out of India, which is creating anxiety but also the fear of losing their voice altogether, of losing their material basis, like homes and maintenances. Dena promised to also look into those problems. 

Gabi sees her and the IAC’s role as upholding international laws and standards. Freedom of speech and personal expression must not be silenced by taking control of emails, media, archives, and by threatening people who represent the community. HP Rama shared he has had a relation with Auroville since 1969 and is impressed by what has been achieved. He is committed to help with the American pavilion and exhibitions, not only as a US pavilion but for the continent of the Americas.

AVI members answered that Aurovilians acknowledge freely that they needed “a kick”, but help and support are needed and not a take-over and forced development. 

According to The Hindu, Auroville Foundation Secretary, Jayanti Ravi, called on Lt. Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, who is a member of the Auroville Governing Board, at the Raj Nivas on Saturday 25th December. According to a press release from Raj Nivas, the Secretary provided an update on the state of affairs in Auroville and the progress of various development initiatives.

The 61st meeting of the Governing Board took place on 8th November 2022. The RA Working Committee, and the other RA working groups, were not given time to present, despite requests. The Minutes of Meeting for the 60th and the 61st meetings of the Governing Board have yet to be communicated to the RA WC or shared with the Residents’ Assembly.

The Residents’ Assembly Service has invited all confirmed Aurovilians to take part in the next selection process. 3 members are to be selected for the Entry Board, 2 for the Auroville Council and 6 for the FAMC. The Auroville Council is holding this event and the RAS is organising it according to the Selection Process approved by the Residents’ Assembly.

Nominations will close on Saturday, 24th December and the selection is planned for 29th January 2023. In the meantime, the RAS is forming a Selection Group. 

A short survey for residents to fill out was launched in October 2022 and received about 230 submissions. The aim of this survey is not to make any decision, and its results are not binding. It was designed simply to get a sense of how people feel about some kind of reconciliation process being explored at some point. The results are being processed.

On 4th December, one year after the demolition of Youth Centre buildings, concerned residents invited Aurovilians, Newcomers and Volunteers to come together at the Town Hall to make offerings of flowers and enjoy peace dances, live music and food. 

The annual Youth Center fair was held between 16th -18th December. The organizers invited the community to come together in a safe, joyful and playful space for the realisation of human unity around crafts, food, fun, music, theatre. 

And on 23rdd December, Solitude Farm invited all those who “cherish HER dream, community, and a celebration of togetherness on this land” to come together with no particular agenda but to celebrate our community with people, food, music.