Issue Nº417 – News in brief

On Friday, 29.3.2024, the date of The Mother’s first arrival in Pondicherry, there was a morning meditation and a silent evening gathering under the Banyan tree at Matrimandir. All Aurovilians were invited for a collective concentration to reaffirm together the purpose and spirit of Auroville.

On March 15, a bench of the Madras High Court consisting of its Hon’ble Chief Justice Mr. Sanjay V. Gangapurwala and the Hon'ble Mr. Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy struck down as ultra vires and illegal the Standing Order of the Governing Board (GB) whereby it had constituted the Auroville Town Development Council (ATDC) and subsequently had nominated its members. The bench judged that the Auroville Foundation Act (Act) entrusts the functions of formulating the Master Plan to the Residents' Assembly (RA) and the final preparation and approval thereof to the GB. It also found that the Act does not authorise the GB to constitute committees that have no GB member as committee member. The bench found that the Standing Order enabling the GB or the Secretary to appoint ATDC members, without the nomination/selection emanating from the RA does not align with the Scheme of the Act, nor with the scheme laid out in the Auroville Master Plan. For the same reason the court also judged the constitution of the Advisory Group by the GB as ultra vires of the Act. The bench stated that with this Standing Order, the GB had arrogated the entire powers of the RA to itself and had virtually nullified its existence and role vis-à-vis the Master Plan. The bench, while setting aside the Standing Order, stated that it will be open for the GB to frame fresh regulations in tune with the provision of the Act and the observations made in the order of the bench.

The Auroville Foundation has appealed the judgement in the Supreme Court of India.

The cases challenging the Admission and Termination of Residents in the Register of Residents Regulations 2023 and the Selection of the Working Committee Regulations 2024 have been posted for another hearing on April 22nd.

The appeal by the Secretary of the Auroville Foundation on the Working Committee case (judgement given by Justice Quddhose in August 2022) was listed along with residual TDC matters. They weren't heard due to lack of time and have been postponed to 10th of June after the High Court summer break.

The Quo Warranto case was heard at length over two days on 27th and 28th March and the judgement is now awaited.

A petition, filed by an Auroville resident, has asked the Court to order the Secretary to follow specified sections of the Auroville Foundation Rules, 1997 and the General Financial Rules of the Central Government, and to cancel all registrations of land exchanges since 2021 that have not followed these rules.

Further to the High Court ordered interim stay on the AVFO’s Auroville Foundation (Admission and Termination of Persons in the Register of Residents) Regulations 2023, [see AVToday 415, March 2024], the Auroville Entry Board selected by the Residents’ Assembly informed the community that it will not process new applications, but will continue to take care of existing Newcomer processes.

The ERC, which has been meeting on a weekly basis since its formation in January 2024, reported that a positive and harmonious group dynamic has been established and that the group has focused on studying the Exit Review Policy which was drafted a few years ago but which was never approved by the RA. This policy is a refinement of the Auroville (Admission and Termination in the Register of Residents’ Regulations) 2020. That year, the community process for the final ratification of the Exit Review Policy was interrupted by the Covid pandemic and the last steps of holding a General Meeting and a subsequent RAD on the subject could not be done. The ERC is now ready to move forward with the ratification process. It awaits the final judgement from the Madras High Court on the validity of the Auroville (Admission and Termination in the Register of Residents) Regulations 2023, which the Court had already stayed in February this year. A General Meeting on the subject will then be announced soon.

The Working Committee of the Residents’ Assembly (RA-Wcom) has sent an extensive response to the Governing Board and its Secretary regarding the content of the minutes of the 66th meeting of the Governing Board [see Avtoday # 415 page 3, February 2024, eds.] The majority of the comments focus on the Board’s authoritative decisions which have been taken without the mandatory consultation with the Residents’ Assembly as prescribed in the Auroville Foundation Act and the International Advisory Council.

From the website https://www.tenderdetail.com/Indian-tender/auroville-tenders it became known that the Auroville Foundation Office has invited many tenders for carrying out various works. Amongst them are: doing a digital topographical survey for the area beyond the Outer Ring Road up to the Green Belt region and a complete layout for Auroville from the centre to the Green Belt; a tender for the execution of the balance portion of the Crown Road, including the provision of led street lighting; a tender for the construction of the Darkali bridge at the Crown Road; a tender for the construction of the Outer Ring Road from the secondary service node to the Visitor’s Centre Parking, including led street lighting; and the demarcation of service nodes and proposed building location as per layout. For full details visit the website.

On March 9th the Auroville Foundation Office (AVFO) tendered and on March 27th auctioned the fruits of the fruits trees of the Auroville Farms, without any consultation with the RA. A late correction to the tender document specified that it is mandatory for successful tenderers to first offer/sell the fruits to Food Link “at no more than the prevailing market price”. While the Governing Board had previously emphasised Auroville’s need for food self-sustainability, Auroville farms will now lose one more of their sources of income, in addition to recent maintenance cuts and loss of productive farm land due to land exchanges. The Auroville Farm Group publicly decried the actions as “yet another blow to farming in Auroville” which will leave farms in a position where they can no longer sustain themselves. The Group noted the lack of communication from the Secretary’s Office, including a lack of intention to work with the farmers. The RA-WCom issued a public press notice to notify potential bidders that transactions about the lease of Auroville fruit trees might be subject to legal challenges, disputes and litigations.

In a letter to the Secretary requesting her help, a member of the AuroOrchard team protested that a new land marking will give away, in a land exchange, half of the community’s vegetable fields, which provide Auroville with at least ten tones of vegetables a year. AuroOrchard supplies over 60% of all fruits and vegetables produced by Auroville farms. The letter notes that “If these exchanges go through in the manner already decided, AuroOrchard may cease functioning due to the huge loss of cultivated land, crops, investments and motivation for the entire team. This loss can be avoided if we sit together and consider the alternatives. We have always been open to this discussion and I hope that we can prioritise what Auroville needs more than what the private developers are asking for.”

The Residents’ Assembly Service (RAS) informed the community of the results of an Emergency Residents' Assembly Decision-making process, initiated through a petition signed by more than 300 members of the Residents’ Assembly (RA), (1) to approve or disapprove that the Working Committee selected by the RA will coordinate the functions of the Funds and Assets Management Committee of the Residents’ Assembly (RA-FAMC) until such time as the circumstances allow for the selection and functioning of a new FAMC of the RA; and (2) to extend the emergency functions granted to the Working Committee on 14.08.2023, for a period of six months. A total of 538 valid votes were submitted online and in-person. 97% (524) participants voted in favour of the above resolution. It was rejected by 1% (4) participants, while 2% (10) participants expressed they didn't know. Therefore, the Residents' Assembly approved the above resolution.

The (RA-WCom) informed the community that on March 11th, a number of current and former members of the Auroville Council received an email notice from the Funds and Assets Management Committee constituted by the Governing Board (GB-FAMC) that the unauthorised users of the Auroville Council meeting room on the first floor of the Town Hall have to vacate by March 15th and that strict action will taken against violators and unauthorised users. The room is currently used by essential groups of the RA, such as the Entry Board and Auroville Council, and has been ‘held’ by residents for more than 20 months in a 24-hour vigil. The RA-WCom described the notice as an overreach of power and an intimidation tactic that disregards once more the essential role of the Residents' Assembly and its duly selected working groups in the day-to-day management of Auroville. The RA-Wcom responded to the GB-FAMC that this room is an important asset for the Residents' Assembly of Auroville and it has been protected from being taken over for over 20 months now and that this will continue.

At the end of February 2024, a number of Aurovilians were notified by the AVFO BCC that their maintenance would be cut, starting 1st March. This follows earlier suggestions to some residents that their work would be “realigned”. 175 residents have already had their maintenances removed, and it is expected that the further maintenance cuts will affect hundreds of Aurovilians who depend on a City Services maintenance for their livelihood in Auroville.

In February, Auroville’s Centre for Research in Performing Arts (CRIPA) – a constantly-in-use and free-to-use performance and rehearsal venue – and the Pitanga Cultural Centre, were informed by the GB-FAMC that their funding would be reduced to partial or zero support from April 1st, 2024. The directive gave them less than two months to become self-sufficient – that is, to raise their own funds or start charging for access, instead of providing an open community space for the arts.

Talam, an Auroville unit that has been providing key software support for many of Auroville’s online services, announced that it will cease to support certain software from 1st April 2024. Talam’s work was supposed to be taken over some time ago by the AVFO-formed group Auroville Integrated Information Service (AIIS), yet AIIS has not done this. Talam stated, “it has become increasingly challenging for us to maintain and support these projects, given that we were explicitly instructed to cease development and hand them over.” Affected services include the Guest Registration Service and the Matrimandir booking portal.

A community meeting took place in the Kalabhumi amphitheatre on March 16th. The participants were informed, both in Tamil and in English, about the events of the last two years. The actions of the AVFO were criticised and Auroville’s responsibility to care for the welfare of the neighbouring villages was emphasised. On March 21st an associated meditation event, Dream about the Future, was held in the Matrimandir Stone Circle. On March 26th, a community meeting was called by the Residents Assembly Service to create awareness concerning the upcoming selection of members for the following working groups of the Residents’ Assembly: Working Committee, Auroville Council and the Entry Board.

Nominations are being invited for the 2024 selection process for the Auroville Council, Admission Committee and Working Committee. Nominations will close on 1st April, and the entire process should be finished by late April. The Working Committee invited residents to take part in the selection process, emphasising that “The Residents' Assembly is alive and continues to function… Building a strong, united and dedicated community, and manifesting the ‘City the Earth Needs’ is the call of the hour. This is not only our collective responsibility but also our aim for being here, our promise to ourselves and to the Divine Consciousness in the true spirit of Auroville.”

Three Auroville architects received awards in the Indian Institute of Architects awards for excellence in architecture 2022. Mona Doctor-Pingel won in the categories ‘Mercantile Retail category for Cottage Showroom’ and ‘Women Architects to the forefront’; Ganesh Bala won in the ‘Adaptive reuse and conservation category’ for an Auromodѐle House; and Suhasini Ayer received a commendation in the ‘Residential’ category for Humanscapes. There were a total of 570 entries across India for 26 different categories

The women’s choir Auroville Harmonies performed a “Singing the World” concert at CRIPA on 2nd and 3rd March, conducted by Antoine. Ceramic artist Supriya Menon Meneghetti presented an exhibition titled “From Darkness to Light” at Centre d’Art, Citadines 8-23 March. The Pavilion of Tibetan Culture presented an exhibition titled “Samsara” by artists Bhavyo and Bhavya, from 4th February to 10th March. On 16th and 17th March there was an Auroville underground music festival at the Youth Center. The Youth Choir conducted by Nuria gave a soul nourishing performance on 23-24 March, and audience members were enchanted by the magical show put up by the Eluciole Circus on 11 March to help raise funds for new equipment. Also, a diverse mix of young musicians lit up the night recently at CRIPA, as they performed soulful melodies and rhythm-driven songs for a concert aimed at spreading love, peace, and unity. The ‘Feel the Vibes’ event featured a varied line-up of musicians and dancers – from a six-year-old vocalist to the senior-most performer who is just 25.

In the February 2024 issue of Auroville Today, in the opening article titled A New World Is Born, it is mentioned that The Mother had the experience that the supramental world already existed in a permanent way on 3rd February, 1959. In fact, the correct date is the February 3rd, 1958. The mistake is regretted.