Issue Nº414 – News in brief

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The Working Committee of the Residents’ Assembly (RA-WCom) has sent its concerns and a rebuttal of the recent land exchange involving Auro Orchard land to the Governing Board and the International Advisory Council. It pointed out that several inaccurate and wrong statements have been circulated both by the administration of the Auroville Foundation office [see AVToday # 313 Brief News] and from the Working Committee supported by the Auroville Foundation (AVF-WCom), such as the sizes of the land to be exchanged, the large financial losses incurred by Auroville, the secrecy of the deal, and the fact, that, notwithstanding assurances given by the AVFO office, a significant portion of the farm has been exchanged, including its main entrance, inner pathways, cultivated fields, orchards, grazing areas, and a primary bore well with a central irrigation system, but also cowsheds, godowns, and an inhabited residence. It requested that all further land exchanges be halted until an immediate investigation into this matter can be carried out, and that this deal is reversed before irreparable damage is done to the farm, to Auroville's physical body, and to its spirit.

On December 14, 2023, the Supreme Court of India, in an interim order on the appeal of the Auroville Foundation against the judgement of the National Green Tribunal Southern Bench (NGT) of April 2022 in which, except for the Crown Road, the NGT stayed all constructions in Auroville and directed the Auroville Foundation to prepare a proper township plan and obtain Environmental Clearance for it [see AVToday #394 of May 2022] ruled that it was of the prima facie opinion that this direction was outside the jurisdiction of the NGT, and stayed it till further orders.

Both before and since the Supreme Court stayed the NGT verdict, land clearance, including tree-cutting and transplantation, has taken place across Auroville. The trees to be transplanted were taken to Auroville land near Kalpavruksha; some trees survived the ordeal and show signs of re-growth, though their long term survival is uncertain. Tree cutting and land clearing took place at Shambala and Buddha Garden to make way for the VIP road, close to Anitya (Joy of Impermanence), in the Youth Centre, inside Bliss Forest on private land and in the Service Area (near the post office). Inside the Revelation Sanctuary, fences were removed without warning by JCBs under the order of the Central Public Works Department. Also, the lone 50 year old Matrimandir Neem tree which had been protected by residents over the last few months as a living symbol was cut down on 21st December. Residents arrived on site and created a temporary earth memorial in remembrance of the tree.

The AVFO ATDC approval for Auroyali to take a piece of Pebble Garden land for its workshop has been rescinded by the AVFO ATDC after the feedback period. The Auroyali project would have threatened Pebble Garden, one of the flagship ecological restoration projects of Auroville. However, a substantial part of Pebble Garden, which includes a borewell, pumps, water tanks and a storeroom with the electricity distribution box, is now considered for land exchange. 

The Auroville Forest Group circulated a public message to the Auroville community and friends of Auroville about what the group has gone through and its plans for the future. It stated that the ecological integrity of a number of forests in Auroville has been compromised because of the imposition of the Crown Road, leading to forest destruction, watersheds disruption and the disturbance and annihilation of wildlife ranges. As of the first of June 2023, the group lost the forest worker/watch-person budget and all Aurovilian maintenances, equating to the tune of ₹1,87,200 per month, representing 39 Aurovilian forest stewards/caretakers/workers and 62 locally employed forest workers. The Auroville forester maintenances were replaced by “care packages” of ₹ 4,800 in-kind per month. For the locally employed forest workers, the budget cuts represent the loss of their means of livelihood, affecting them and whole families. A gratuity claim is being pursued with the GB FAMC to ensure the local forest workers receive the dues they are owed.

The Forest Group plans to continue to meet and discuss issues which concern all of them, not least to provide a sense of community and mutual support. But it remains to be seen how the situation on the ground evolves. It warned that forests that are not properly supervised will be easily encroached or be used for refuse dumping, while unrestrained tree cutting and overgrazing will increase. Moreover, such forests will be prone to land speculation.

Thanking those who have provided support over the last couple of years, the Forest Group reiterated that community support and funds will be needed for the continued maintenance of the forested areas of Auroville. For more information contact forestgroup@auroville.services.

The RA-WCom informed the community that the Funds and Assets Management Committee (GB-FAMC) and the Budget Coordination Committee (GB-BCC) appointed by the Office of the Secretary have recently sent a mail to several residents that their maintenance would be stopped the same day, as the maintenance had not been allocated under an approved City Service budget. There was no consultation, meeting or discussion with those affected. The RA-WCom strongly denounced the abuse of power “which goes against the principles of transparency, unity and collaboration that are at the core of Auroville's ethos”.

Two weeks afterwards, an email was sent by the GB-BCC to the affected Aurovilians outlining a new policy for stopping financial support. In this policy, the GB-BCC and GB-FAMC state “If the affected persons come by themselves to seek another work opportunity and are ready to try a new work avenue, they will continue to be supported in the subsequent months in their new work assignment. Those who don't approach the GB-BCC after receiving the note of realignment will not be continued with maintenance after one month.”

At the request of the GB-FAMC and GB-BCC, SAIIER have prioritised the maintenance and budget 2024-2025 of all of SAIIER’s sub-units, which has led to a number of artistic and cultural units and activities having their budgets and maintenances cut. Those affected have been informed that from April 2024 they will no longer receive any financial support from City Services and will instead need to find new sources of funding, such as seeking donations or charging for their services. Some performance artists were told that their maintenances would be cut if they did not commit to performing at Bharat Nivas in 2024. The Bharat Nivas team recently underwent extensive changes and most of the executive and operational teams, including Aurovilians who have been working there for many years, were either dismissed by the AVFO or resigned.

So far, over 350 concerned Auroville residents have signed a petition to te GB and IAC expressing their profound discontent with the recent actions and policies implemented by the GB-FAMC and their loss of confidence in the GB-FAMC’s ability to effectively manage the community’s finances and assets. The petitioners also expressed their disagreement that the GB-FAMC and GB-BCC members and the members of other subsidiary groups have not been selected by the community.

The petitioners demand the resignation of all members of the GB-FAMC; the immediate cessation of the GB-FAMC’s harmful practices and policy implementation; a full and transparent investigation into the GB-FAMC’s management of community finances and assets; and the establishment of a new, transparent, and accountable body for managing Auroville’s finances and assets, with strong community representation and oversight.

The petitioners urge the GB and IAC to immediately take steps to address the concerns and implement necessary reforms.

The RA-WCom informed the community that, as the Hon'ble Madras High Court has recently re-affirmed that the Residents' Assembly (RA) is a statutory body and cannot be restricted in carrying out its functions as per the Auroville Foundation Act, the RA has to constitute the “Termination Committee” (aka the Exit Review Group) as specified in the Auroville Foundation (Admission and Termination of Persons in the Register of Residents) Regulations, 2020. Its responsibilities are to conduct an enquiry upon receiving a report or request from the Working Committee, or from at least sixty residents, that a resident’s behaviour is incompatible with Auroville’s ideals or the laws of India, or that a resident is not engaged in any community work or meaningful activity relevant to the life and growth of Auroville; and to examine whether the name of a resident should be removed from the register of residents in cases where the resident has not been residing in Auroville for a consecutive period of three years.

The RA-WCom has nominated nine well-known and respected residents as members of the Termination Committee and called for feedback. As no feedback was received the RA initiated an emergency Residents' Assembly decision-making process concerning the appointment of these nine nominees. 521 Auroville residents voted, of which 507 voted in favour of the proposal, which was therefore declared as accepted by the RA.

The RA WCom has endorsed the creation of a task force to review the design of the Matrimandir lake. In their announcement on 12th December 2023, they stated that “the review of the present design of the lake is being undertaken to prepare a revised concept as an offering to the community of Auroville”. The aim of the group is to formulate a proposal for the lake addressing areas of concern, such as the source of water to fill the lake, size of the lake, the movement and re-use of excavated earth. The task force will update the community via a regular bulletin and invite feedback from the community regarding the Matrimandir lake design and implementation. The revised concept will be presented to the community on Auroville’s birthday, 28th February 2024.

Annapurna Farm, Auroville’s largest rice farm, has started integrating ducks into its paddy fields. The ducks reduce the labour of paddy weeding, fertilize the field, control pests by eating insects and snails, and stimulate rice plant growth by moving around the plants throughout the day, and so increase the rice yields. As a by-product Annapurna will start supplying Auroville with duck eggs. The first batch of 222 ducks has proven to work effectively. To take care of the entire six acres of paddy 1200 ducks will be required, for which the farm’s infrastructure will need to substantially enhanced. 

On 16th-17th December, this festival brought together some of the best Tamil writers, educators, thinkers and philosophers, in the categories of poetry, literature, art, culture and the works of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. The chief guest was Thiru Niranjan Bharathi, the great grandson of the poet Subramaniya Bharathi, who explored the special connection of Sri Aurobindo with Bharathi. The Festival was supported by the Ministry of Culture and the Auroville Foundation.

Morning Star is a unit of the Health and Healing Trust, made up of midwives and doulas who support pregnancy, childbirth breastfeeding and provide women’s wellness gynecological care in Auroville. Morning Star’s ground-breaking research on fathers’ experience of childbirth was recognized at a ‘Better Birthing Experience Conference’ held in Hyderabad on November 4 and 5, 2023, where they received the runner-up award for original research. This prestigious international conference was organized by the Fernandez Foundation and Hospitals, in association with UNICEF.

According to Charlie’s (Aurogreen) rainfall figures, by late December Auroville had received 147 cms, which is 5% above the average for the past 34 years. While the NE monsoon was 20% deficient, the summer monsoon saw 43% more rain than usual, and the yearly average was also boosted by record rainfalls in March and May

After many years of devotedly writing much appreciated obituaries of Aurovilians and associates, Mauna announced that she was handing over responsibility for death announcements, obituaries and other such notifications to the Farewell team. 

PRISMA, one of the Auroville units that specialises in publishing and distributing books, has increased its international presence. More than twenty PRISMA books are now accessible in about thirty countries, offering readers a choice between digital and print formats on platforms like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, IndieBound, Indigo and more. PRISMA’s new publications include Towards the Sun - The Mother on Egypt - from Akhet-Aten, Egypt to Auroville, India, a book in which all the material available on the destroyed and buried city of Akhet-Aten (“Horizon of the Aten”) has been collected and related to Auroville. Another publication is The Snub-Nosed Dragon and Other Stories, the inaugural installment of the upcoming series Mythologies from the Future. PRISMA is also digitizing and contemporarising the long-out-of-print collection of Equals One, a magazine that predates the establishment of Auroville, and was dedicated to the ideals of Auroville.

For more information contact prisma@auroville.org.in