Governance

Auroville exists in more than one dimension – there is the occult as well as the material dimension – which makes it difficult to assess what really is most important or influential in terms of the community’s development.

Lakshay Dharan shifted to Auroville in 2015 and became an Auroville resident in Feb 2018. Since then, he has been active in art, communication, strategy, and organisational work.

On 14 August Dr. Karan Singh, who has been Chairman of the Governing Board of the Auroville Foundation for more than 20 years, briefly visited Auroville.

Dear Auroville residents, friends and well-wishers of Auroville, A website has been created for the Auroville Global Fellowship. Here is the link:

A reader comments on the article “Time for integration?” in which Alan interviews Divakar about his recently circulated paper entitled Auroville and its destinies.

Claude and Abha have been living in Auroville since 1974 and 1978 respectively. For the last 45 years, Abha has been running the handicraft unit Shradhanjali while Claude has become a scholar who has authored several books and articles on Tibet, China, India and on Indo-French relations.

Dear Friends, As Auroville goes through its worst crisis ever, it was relieving to see efforts from outside Auroville coming forward. Thus the compilation “Auroville in Crisis” by the “Auroville Global Fellowship” composed of people who are not residents of Auroville is a reminder that the success of Auroville is not just important for Aurovilians, but for humanity as a whole, because of its unique spiritual dimension.

“In this as in all great human aspirations and endeavours, an a priori declaration of impossibility is a sign of ignorance and weakness. For by the doing the difficulty will be solved.”

Rolf Lieser arrived in Auroville in 1981 and during his thirty years stay here, among other things, he practised and exhibited his paintings and sculptures, played music in various bands, did graphic design (including working with Kireet Joshi on certain projects), designed and constructed a number of houses, and started Kalabhumi community in the Cultural Zone.

The Residents of Auroville express their profound grief at the passing of eminent jurist Fali Nariman on 21st February 2024 who, on more than one occasion, helped the development of Auroville by acting in court or by giving valuable legal opinions.

In its 63rd meeting the GB approved the project proposal submitted by the EdCIL (India) Limited for the construction of 1,000-bed student hostel in two phases at Auroville.

The Board in-principle approved the construction of a boundary wall around the inner circle of the outer ring road. As the costs of erecting a barbed wire fencing are cheaper to the tune of about 50% to the cost for prefabricated cement structure, the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) submitted a revised quotation for Rs.18.69 crores.

A few months ago, announcements appeared on various Auroville forums and in the News and Notes inviting Aurovilians to share their own experiential journey of seeking their inner/ psychic being.

The second paragraph of the Charter of Auroville states that “Auroville will be a place of unending education, of constant progress and a youth that never ages.”

In the October 2023 issue of Auroville Today [#411] we highlighted the 901-page framework study ‘Governance in Auroville’ of Professor Raag Yadava and his associate Nidhi Harihar.

Many years ago, Kireet Joshi gave a series of talks about Auroville’s organisation. As the architect of the Auroville Foundation Act, about which there is so much discussion and litigation at present, it is important to understand how he envisaged the role of the Residents Assembly in particular.

Mr. Srinivasmurty was a member of the Auroville Foundation administration for the last 28 years, serving many different Secretaries and fulfilling different roles.

A 650-page study on Auroville’s organization, made by Professor Raag Yadava and his team, has been published. It is available on the Auroville website.

François Gautier came to India in 1969 at the age of 19, with the first Auroville caravan. Deeply impressed by Sri Aurobindo's writings, he chose to reside in the Sri Aurobindo Ashram for about seven years, after which he joined Auroville, where he has been living since.

Claude Arpi is a French-born Aurovilian living in Auroville for the past 49 years. He is well-known as a historian and tibetologist. He is the author of several books on Tibet and on Indo-French relations, and was instrumental in the creation of the Pavilion of Tibetan Culture in Auroville.

As my partner and I were talking about the history of Auroville’s on-going crisis, she encouraged me to read a specific book chronicling the early days of Auroville.

On 16th February, the Unity Pavilion was full. There was huge interest because it was the first time in the last seven years that residents had met in an open meeting with an International Advisory Council (IAC).

H.P. Rama is a successful hotelier based in the U.S. He is also a devotee of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, and has founded a university – AURO University – in Surat based upon the former’s educational principles.

The community was deeply shocked to learn that a young Aurovilian and member of the Residents Assembly Working Committee, had been served with a Leave India Notice on 15th February.

Manoj Pavithran is an integral yoga practitioner, educator and filmmaker. He was drawn to Sri Aurobindo in 1989 and eventually joined Auroville in 1995.

In November 1988, thirty-four years ago, Auroville Today began life, and this month marks our 400th issue. Peter Lloyd, one of our most loyal subscribers and a recent addition to our editorial team gives his reflection.

For me, it was an absolute delight to listen to Kireet Bhai on the governance of Auroville. He, so beautifully, explains it in the larger light of Sri Aurobindo’s vision.

Auroville’s Residents’ Assembly Service is tasked with organizing decisions of the Residents’ Assembly of the Auroville Foundation. Lately their job has become very challenging.

Mandakini Gupta, a former student of the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education (Ashram school) in Puducherry, was a member of the Working Committee from December 2014 to December 2019 and has been active in the areas of Auroville’s internal conflict resolution and governance.

Working in Auroville has its own specialty. As novice honorary volunteers, drawn to the idea of Auroville and with stars in our eyes, several years can go by slightly tinted.

Auroville Today does not normally publish the integral version of the minutes of the meetings of the Governing Board of the Auroville Foundation.

On October this year, the Ministry of Education of the Government of India appointed Auroville’s new Governing Board and new International Advisory Council.

Recently Disha, which was a service that provides personalised support and guidance to the youth of Auroville and the bioregion, did a survey of Auroville youth and young adults.

In February this year the community selected new members for four major working groups. Christine asked Carel, whose term of office has come to an end after serving two terms in the Working Committee, about his 6-years’ experience.

The Citizens’ Assembly pilot project (see Auroville Today no. 365, Dec 2019) has concluded. Over the past three months, around thirty randomly selected participants have listened to presentations on various aspects of water, then agreed on a water vision for Auroville and ways in which it could be implemented.

On November 23rd, the term of office of Dr Karan Singh and the other members of the Governing Board of the Auroville Foundation came to an end.

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.

Many view the disruption caused by the lockdown in Auroville as an opportunity to radically transform our economy, governance, food provision systems etc. and a number of proposals to achieve this have already been made.

Recently, Suryamayi Clarence-Smith, who was born and brought up in Auroville, completed a Ph.D in International Development in the University of Sussex, the world-ranking institution in the field.

Nothing happens by chance and we are therefore entitled to wonder what is the meaning of the crisis which has been shaking Auroville for some time.

On June 12th, Auroville bade farewell to Mohan Verghese Chunkath who had been serving as Secretary of the Auroville Foundation since June 2016.

I wonder if this is a shared rationale, and whether being exposed from a young age to a dynamic and participatory learning environment is conducive to engaging in creating such opportunities.

I am now 28, born and brought up as a third generation in Auroville. My grandparents are of Indian (Kuilaypalayam) and European (Dutch/German) background... my grandparents having worked for Auroville at its very start.

The recent community gathering on the topics What are you here for? and What are we here for? was inspiring. There was a strong collective aspiration for changes in our governance, our economy and ourselves so as to ally them more with our ideals.

Looking at some of the old issues of Auroville Today, it’s fascinating to see how some of the articles could have been written just last week.