Issue Nº431-32 – News in brief

On 29 April four cases concerning Auroville were listed in the Madras High Court before its summer closure during the month of May.

1. The case filed by a concerned member of the Residents’ Assembly concerning the constitution of the Admission and Termination Scrutinising Committee (ATSC) was basically accepted for debate and the lawyers of the Foundation Office were directed to submit their arguments within six weeks.

2. The appeal to the Madras High Court ruling on the quo warranto case, filed by the Working Committee selected by the Residents’ Assembly (RA-WCom) was postponed by the appeal bench until after the summer break.

3. The appeal filed by the Auroville Foundation Office (AVFO) on the stay of the Regulations of the Governing Board regarding constitution of the Working Committee was also postponed by the appeal bench until after the summer break.

4. The appeal filed by the AVFO on the interim stay of the 2024 Admission and Termination Regulations of the Governing Board was admitted and the Madras High Court decided to vacate the interim stay that the Madras High Court gave in February 2024. This decision means that these Regulations on Entry and Exit are now applicable. The order does, however, recognise the prerogatives of the Residents’ Assembly as indicated in Section 19 of the Act and states that if any of the regulations contravene the function of the Residents’ Assembly under Section 19 of the Act, then the Act would prevail. The case itself is still awaiting judgement. The Court has posted the matter for final hearing in June. 

“Wishing to move forward in collaboration towards the building of the city and the right administering of Auroville,” the AVFO on 9 May issued a call for self-nomination in key areas of the Auroville administration, eg a group, service, unit or trust. On 2 June, the Officer on Special Duty informed the community that the call had a response of almost 200 residents, newcomers, and volunteers, and that the deadline for submitting the Service Form was extended until 10 June.

Concerned residents have called on the Governing Board, International Advisory Council and Secretary of the Auroville Foundation to instruct Aurinoco, the Auroville unit which created a fibre optic network in Auroville with GOI grants, to halt forcing a single connectivity upon all subscribers. The signatories request that Aurinoco restore net neutrality, process new BSNL applications, include resident representation in management decisions, and follow transparent tender processes. On 3 May Aurinoco had announced it would discontinue providing BSNL services over the Aurinoco fibre. This was followed by a drastic reduction of speeds from the expected 100-300MB/s to around 1-2MB/s for users on BSNL connections. A few days later, Aurinoco started disconnecting BSNL users. At the time, there were over 200 BSNL users on Aurinoco. The residents highlighted that large portions of the network were paid for by substantial individual funds throughout Auroville. These investments were made on the premise and promise of Net Neutrality and free choice of Internet Service Provider (ISP) by each individual resident. The residents also challenged Aurinoco’s claim that discontinuing BSNL was part of the Auroville Master Plan. When this issue went to press, the issue had not been resolved.

Two editions of a new e-magazine named “Auroville Tomorrow” have been published by the Auroville Foundation Office. The first “revised edition No. 01”, [‘revised’ may refer to three earlier issues of Auroville Tomorrow published in 2022] dated 24 April 2025 introduces itself as “Auroville’s official future-focused newsletter” of the Auroville Foundation, Ministry of Education. The second edition is dated 24 May 24. For more information contact avfoundation@auroville.org.in.

A new website: Auroville Urban Planning and Development Repository https://aupdr.auroville.community/ has been created. This initiative, led by a group of Auroville residents, brings together hundreds of documents related to the planning and development of Auroville. Spanning from 1965 to 2024, the open-access database includes a diverse range of materials — from visionary proposals to administrative records, participatory brainstorms to technical studies, and both official and unofficial documents. Together, they reflect the layered and evolving nature of Auroville’s planning and development journey. The website invites people to stay connected for upcoming updates and features and give feedback.

Auroville Connect, a WhatsApp platform “dedicated to connecting people in and around Auroville who care deeply about the Dream, the Charter, and the future of this unique city and its experiment in human unity,” has now published an e-newsletter. The editors explained that Auroville Connect “is not a forum for opinion or debate, but a field of shared intention. Whether one lives in Auroville or simply resonates with its ideal of a universal city, Auroville Connect invites you to stay attuned to the deeper pulse behind the visible events.” The newsletter will be shared via mass-bulletin to all Auroville residents. For subscriptions contact avconnect@auroville.org.in.

The News Minute, a digital subscription-based news platform which reports and writes on issues in India, with a specific focus on the five southern states, has published its third edition of a series on ‘The Spirituality Industry: A Deep Reporting Project’. This issue situates what’s currently happening in Auroville within the larger context of India’s politics and focuses on issues such as questionable land deals, large-scale felling of trees, and allegations that the township is being reshaped into a federal enclave—a foothold for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Tamil Nadu. The BJP has been the ruling political party in India since 2014. A video on its first edition on Auroville can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GCUUfB1hPo, while the third edition can be seen at https://www.thenewsminute.com/long-form/inside-auroville-power-profit-and-plans-for-a-federal-enclave.

The Working Committee selected by the Residents’ Assembly (RA-WCom) has vacated its temporary office in Kailash, an educational youth residency under SAIIER, after the Funds and Assets Management Committee constituted by the Governing Board (GB-FAMC) instructed the Kailash caretakers and residents to hand over the building to the Housing Service by the end of May. [see article on page ….] RA-WCom’s new accommodation at the Dustudio in Swayam community was however short-lived; after Dustudio received threatening letters from the GB-FAMC, the RA-WCom left the place. For the time being, the RA-WCom can only be reached by email.

The GB-FAMC informed the community that it has begun “a renewed effort to grow and strengthen Auroville’s economy, building on the groundwork laid in recent years around compliance, transparency and financial structure”. As part of this process, it has invited the Auroville unit AWARE to support the process of economic strategy and development. “AWARE’s role will be reviewing performance data, identifying opportunities and challenges, facilitating consultative meetings with trust and units and helping to shape a roadmap for a more self-sustaining and conscious economy aligned with Auroville’s vision. This collaboration will also include working with willing unit executives, economists and community members to co-develop a five-year economic development programme, explore systematic improvements and create a culture of transparency, responsibility and collective action.” The GB-FAMC expressed the belief that such a collaborative and strategic approach will “help us to move beyond compliance toward true abundance – an economy that supports the realisation of Auroville’s ideals”.

The GB-FAMC informed the managers of small guest houses that the Financial Services accounts of these guest houses would be closed by 15 June 2025 and requested the managers to cancel any future bookings. The FAMC wrote that it had decided to reserve these accommodations solely for volunteers. These guest houses have until now offered accommodation to a mix of extended-stay visitors, volunteers, newcomers and other Aurovilians when in need. The email did not contain any information on how the managers would be compensated for their personal investments and future loss of income.

The AVFO continues entering into Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) and other “collaborations” with Indian institutes, which the residents learn about via newspapers. On 5 April 2025, an MoU with the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) was announced in The Hindu newspaper. The MoU was apparently to “facilitate knowledge exchange in digital heritage preservation, language computing, AI-driven cultural initiatives, and sustainable technology development” and would be “executed in coordination with Auroville’s Electrical Service, Water Service and Aurinoco in the coming months”.

Information about several other potential AVFO collaborations have also been shared in The Hindu. An article on 24 April envisaged the construction of a “Madhya Pradesh Bhavan” in Auroville and shared that “Auroville has offered to train 100 selected teachers from Madhya Pradesh in holistic pedagogy during summer vacation”. A further article from 20 May stated that the Ministry of Education was exploring “replicating Auroville’s unique socio-economic model”. The article claims that a ministry official met with “stakeholders”, and stated that she was “introduced to the diverse range of sustainable, artisanal, and socially responsible businesses that embody Auroville’s ethos of conscious living”. 

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.

Citing cases of animal neglect and abuse, the Auroville Dog Shelter team has invited Auroville residents and friends of Auroville to participate in the writing of an Auroville Animal Charter, which should become a framework for how to live in a harmonious co-existence with all sentient beings in Auroville.

Morning Star, Auroville’s birth and wellness centre, has published its 2024-2025 Newsletter. Morning Star’s team offers professional birth and women’s wellness care in a serene, respectful environment. It raises awareness about birth, empowers women, includes fathers and families in birth and shares knowledge with hospitals in Pondicherry and India. Services include consultations, childbirth preparation and education classes. Morning Star also does pioneering research on fathers’ roles in childbirth, for which it was commended at the recent Better Birthing Experience Conference in Hyderabad.

Morning Star has also started “Little Red Feet” (LRF), creating a supportive space for parents, babies and toddlers. This activity of Morning Star encourages socialisation, play, and child development, as well as support and fun for parents. The “Golden 1000 Days” championed by UNICEF and others around the world, recognises the first 1000 days of a child's life, from conception to their second birthday, as the most critical period for growth and development and LRF offers space for that.

Morning Star recently received all the approvals and NOC for its Morning Star Building which it hopes to start soon.

For more information contact morningstar@auroville.org.in.