Funds and Assets Management Committee (FAMC)

On 16 October, a group of 15 people came to Afsanah Guest House, including executives of the Auroville Security Services appointed by the AVFO and broke open the doors of the office, the dining room and Room 7.

This is the last issue of Auroville Today. While this issue was in the press, the editorial team learned that a new media policy for Auroville is about to be implemented.

In the previous issue of Auroville Today we published the major considerations and decisions of the Governing Board as reported in the minutes of its 67th Governing Board meeting held in Auroville on 31 May 2024.

Further to the meeting of 21 March, Dr. G. Seetharaman, the Officer on Special Duty of the Auroville Foundation, sent out a mass bulletin informing the community about the changes of Chartered Accountants (CAs) effective 1 April 2025.

The Auroville Visitors Centre is Auroville’s reception and information disseminating centre for the often thousands of tourists and visitors coming to Auroville daily.

In response to a Right to Information request of 7 December, 2024 the Department of Higher Education of the Ministry of Education has sent the applicant on 3 January the minutes of the 67th Governing Board meeting held in Auroville on 31 May, 2024.

The RA-WCom has challenged the authority of the GB-FAMC which it described as “a group of individuals attempting to impose control over the rest of the community when it has not been selected by the Residents’ Assembly and does not respond to calls of collaboration or transparency.”

Manuel Thomas, a long-time friend and well-wisher of Auroville, left his body peacefully in his sleep during the night of January 26th. His passing is a great loss for Auroville and for his many friends and admirers.

Torkil Dantzer joined Auroville in 2010. In 2011 he created the woodworking unit Prakrit after Cyclone Thane to create value from the fallen trees.

In the beginning of May, the Auroville farmers published a report in the community edition of the Auroville News and Notes questioning the results of the imposition of the fruit harvest auction by the Auroville Foundation Office (AVFO).

“Enhance Auroville food production to meet the needs of Auroville...” – View point of the Governing Board as recorded in the minutes of the 57th meeting.

The FAMC and Housing Service have announced a new housing policy, which has been endorsed by the Governing Board. Some of the key points include: An Auroville House User cannot be the user of more than one housing asset at a time; residential buildings shall be used only for residential use and cannot be converted into guest houses, homestays, offices or any other use; residential buildings cannot be used for any activities involving personal gain (e.g. renting or leasing of the residential building or parts thereof, use as an office for non-Auroville activities); an Auroville house user who wishes to leave Auroville for a period longer than one month, due to which the house or apartment in which the house will be unoccupied, must intimate the Housing Service so that a temporary house sitter can be accommodated during the absence of the Auroville resident; in case an Auroville house user leaves Auroville permanently, the house or apartment will be re-allocated by the Housing Service in accordance with the provisions of this policy; inheritance rights do not apply to Auroville properties since all properties are legally owned by Auroville Foundation, and not by persons who are using these properties.

On 19 January 2024, five of the six Aurovilian members of the Auroville Safety & Security Team (AVSST) received an email from the Budget Coordination Group (BCC) informing them that "BCC & FAMC are unable to support maintenance on your current positions.

The GB appointed Funds and Assets Management Committee (GB-FAMC) has cancelled all city services contribution waivers approved of by former BCCs or FAMCs for individuals, services and units before March 2023.

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.

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.

Satprem set up and is deeply involved with the Auroville Earth Institute (AVEI), which has become one of the world’s foremost centres for excellence in earthen architecture, and a leader in the research, development, promotion and transfer of earth-based building technologies.

On 11th September, the Forest Group wrote to the FO FAMC and FO BCC requesting that they fulfil financial obligations to fifty forest workers, some of whom have worked in Auroville forests for over forty years.

The FO FAMC, in association with the Housing Service Team, is initiating a survey of the income generating and service units to gather asset-related information from these units to update the database.

The Residents’ Assembly Service (RAS) announced that the Residents’ Assembly of Auroville had approved two proposals with majority vote. The proposal that the RA can make an emergency Residents’ Assembly Decision (RAD) at a petition signed by at least 300 residents was approved by 402 participants (98% of all votes cast).

After interactions with the farmers and directives from the Governing Board, The FO Farm Service and FO FAMC announced they have come up with a work plan for farming and food security in Auroville.

In an open letter to the Farm Service, the FO FAMC and the Secretary of the Auroville Foundation, Auroville farmers raised their concern as to the announcement that three farm areas (Buddha Garden, Siddhartha and Shambala) are to be removed to make place for a road, parking lots and convenience facilities for a planned VIP road, a road which is not mentioned in the gazetted Master Plan.

The Donation Channeling Group set up by the Foundation Office clarified a new procedure regarding donations for Auroville projects. For the registration of projects for which donations are already being received or for which donations are proposed to be raised, an on-line Project Registration Form (PRF) has been designed which needs to be uploaded on a designated portal.

The Funds and Assets Management Committee appointed by the Secretary of the Auroville Foundation (FO-FAMC) and its subgroup the Budget Coordination Committee (FO-BCC) have cut all Aurovilian maintenances and all workers’ salaries of the Forest Group, and over 75% of the maintenances of Aurovilians working for farms.

Food Link serves as an intermediary service between farms and consumers. On June 20th, two long-standing executives of Food Link who have been working there for 25 and 7 years respectively were dismissed without prior notice or explanation or following due process.

The Auroville Farm Group has sent an open letter to the FO-FAMC and the newly created Farm Service questioning their decision to request Ayarpadi Farm to give up five acres of their cultivated land to be used by volunteers to explore a farming future.

The Auroville Foundation has 37 management trusts which together hold 600 units and activities. Palani, the executive of the accounting unit Omega, gives his views.

The FO FAMC is setting up an Integrated Information System as a digital memory for the collective. The AIIS office will be responsible for securing a fully integrated, updated data system with all the core data of the Auroville administration, and making it available to working groups as well as Foundation office.

At the beginning of November 2022, the AVFO’s ‘FAMC’ sent an email to several Activity managers whose annual turnover does not exceed 2 lakhs.

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.

The new selection process started in May with a call for nominations/self-nominations for candidates for the following Working Groups: Auroville Council, Auroville Town Development Council, Entry Board, Funds and Assets Management Committee and Working Committee.

Are we ready to coordinate Auroville's food sector?

A year ago, in May 2020, the Budget Coordination Committee (BCC) and the Funds and Assets Management Committee (FAMC) jointly created “Temporary Emergency Maintenances” for those Aurovilians working in activities, units or services who were no longer able to receive a maintenance from their unit or service due to the Covid-19 emergency, and were in need.

In January 2017, the community approved the Auroville Appeal Process, a policy that regulates how an individual, a unit or a service can object to a decision of a working group.

How does Auroville deal with ageing? Are there community retirement plans? Are Auroville units planning for succession? Auroville Today talked to two unit executives – one who is (slightly) stepping back, the other who is stepping forward – and lifts the veil on a Silver Fund which is being planned for the older members of the community.

Auroville is seeing an increase in bureaucracy. The Funds and Assets Management Committee proposes to enlarge its 12-page Code of Conduct for trusts and units of the Auroville Foundation to a 40-page document: the Town Development Council has come up with an empanelment process for contractors in Auroville and has initiated a process for how to deal with people who build without building permissions; the Entry Board is facing official “Auroville Foundation (Admission and termination of Persons in the register of residents) Regulations 2020; and there is an increasing ‘imposition’ of regulations from outside Auroville.

The COVID Task Force, along with the Working Committee, has been the group that has been coordinating Auroville’s response to the lockdown. What has their work involved?

Lack of available housing threatens the growth of Auroville. The reasons for this are lack of planning, bureaucratization, ‘not in my backyard’ attitudes, over-dependence on government grants and bad economic policies.

Like so many Auroville projects, Annapurna farm started with a simple keet-roofed hut, no money to speak of, not many expectations but with high aspirations.

The FAMC reported that the Auroville Foundation received an Income Tax order for the assessment year 2017-18 (financial year 2016-17) of Rs 14.5 crores, computed on the consolidated balance sheet, and another notice has been issued for the financial year 2017-2018.

Auroville’s Funds and Assets Management Committee (FAMC) held two general meetings in November in an effort to come closer to the community.

The BCC announced that the budget for 2019-20 is ready and has been endorsed by the FAMC. 35 new full-time maintenance have been provided. The Auroville City Service contribution to be paid individually has been increased by 5% to Rs. 3,475 but this contribution is automatically waived for Aurovilians receiving a full-time City Service maintenance.

I have been in Auroville for 20 years since the age of 10. I worked as a teacher in Future School, a writer for the Auroville Today and Auroville Village Action Group, and served a term in the Working Committee.

Auroville Today reported on the social outreach work of Upasana in January 2009, eight years ago. Today Upasana is 20 years old. What direction is it taking now?

Nominations have been invited from the community for three new members of the Working Committee, three for the Council and two for the Funds and Assets Management Committee.

By a majority vote of 214 ‘yes’ against 23 ‘no’, the Residents Assembly has approved an appeal process. Individuals can now ask an Appeal Body to review and possibly change a working group’s decision.

When I began serving as the secretary to the Funds and Assets Management Committee (FAMC) in December 2010, there were twelve men, including the Secretary, Auroville Foundation, as well as the Finance and Administration officer, Auroville Foundation, and one woman member.