Governing Board

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.

The Governing Board, in its 69th meeting held on 8 July 2025, has constituted the Appellate Committee to hear appeals arising from rejection of applications for admission as a Volunteer, Newcomer or Aurovilian, or removal/ termination of individuals from the Volunteer List, Newcomer List, and Aurovilian List / Register of Residents (RoR).

The Governing Board recently approved the stationing of 15 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) members in Auroville for five years “to safeguard Auroville’s development zones and uphold law and order”, as well as the development of a new security complex with a “master control room”.

The newspaper The Hindu reported that the Auroville Foundation Governing Board held its 70th meeting on 1 October 2025, to mark the conclusion of its four-year term.

Dear Residents of Auroville, This month we complete our four-year term as members of the International Advisory Council of the Auroville Foundation.

To: Shri R.N. Ravi, Chairman, Governing Board, Auroville Foundation. Subject: The MoU with IIT Madras & Land Use Concerns Dear Shri R.N. Ravi ji,

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.

L’Avenir d’Auroville, Auroville’s Town Planning Council constituted by the Governing Board, informed the community that it is “taking decisive steps in the implementation of the Auroville Master Plan, which has been extended [by the Governing Board] to 2035 to allow for the complete realisation of the township as originally envisaged”.

On 17 April, long-term Aurovilian Frederick Schulze Buxloh was informed that his application for visa extension had been denied. The decision sparked widespread concern, leading to a petition addressed to Indian authorities that garnered over 4000 signatures.

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

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.

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.

A year ago, architect David Nightingale talked about how Spiral Dynamics could provide one way of understanding the present situation in Auroville.

In May 2024, the Governing Board of the Auroville Foundation approved the creation of the Auroville Physical Education Board (APEB), and allocated an in-principle budget of ₹2 crores (approx.

On 20 March, the Ministry of Education, responding to two Right to Information requests dated 25 and 26 February, sent the applicant a copy of the Minutes of the 68th Meeting of the Governing Board (GB) of the Auroville Foundation held on 5 December 2024, which have since been widely distributed in Auroville.

On 20 April the Working Committee selected by the Residents’ Assembly (RA-WCom) shared with the community a letter it had written on 16 April to the members of the Governing Board, copied to the members of the Auroville International Advisory Council.

On 18 April, the RA-WCom responded to the 11 April 2025 circular sent out by the Auroville Foundation Office. The RA-WCom noted that, once again, the Foundation Office and the groups and individuals who are recognised by them are attempting to erode the sense of community and spirit of unity by sowing confusion and fear.

On 10 April the Residents’ Assembly Service (RAS) announced the outcome of an Emergency RA Decision-Making (ERAD) Process initiated by the Working Committee of the Residents’ Assembly (RA-WCom) to formally acknowledge Residents' Assembly entities as section 19 committees under the Auroville Foundation Act 1988.

On 17 March 2025, the Supreme Court of India delivered two judgements. One was on the appeal of the Auroville Foundation against the verdict of the National Green Tribunal passed in April 2022; the other on the appeal of the Auroville Foundation against the judgement of the Madras High Court of March 2024 regarding the Auroville Town Development Council.

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.

The National Green Tribunal verdict and appeal The Auroville Universal Township Master Plan (Perspective 2025) is a perspective and directional document that was approved in 2001 by the Ministry of Human Resources Development (HRD) – now Ministry of Education (MoE) – and published by the Secretary of the Auroville Foundation in the Gazette of India in 2010.

As I was looking through the minutes of the last Governing Board meeting regarding proposed changes to the Auroville Foundation Act, I recalled that when the Act was originally being prepared, there were already two different tendencies.

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.

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.

The Working Committee appointed by the Residents’ Assembly (RA-WCom) have published a legal opinion from lawyer Suchindran Bala Baskar as to the validity of the Auroville Foundation (Residence Criteria) Standing Order 2024 (AVFRC), which lays down certain criteria to be followed by the residents of Auroville [see AVToday # 426, page 2].

By Office Order dt. 20 February 2025, Dr. G. Seetharaman, Officer on Special Duty, Auroville Foundation, appointed the five members of the Admissions & Terminations Scrutinising Committee (ATSC) and the three members of the Admissions & Terminations Registry, in accordance with the Auroville Foundation (Admission and Termination of Persons in the Register of Residents) Regulations, 2023, issued by the Governing Board and published in the Gazette of India on 4 January 2024.

In two events in early February, residents visited the Auroville Foundation Office to express their deep concerns about the loss of Auroville land near Evergreen community and to request the Auroville Foundation Office to appeal the judgement in which ownership of the land, which had been in Auroville's ownership for 30 years, was passed to a property developer.

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.”

Over the past three years, Auroville Today has reported extensively about the changes brought about by the new Governing Board and its Secretary, in collaboration with Aurovilians who were frustrated by the pace of Auroville’s development.

“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.”

The Auroville Foundation Office (AVFO) continues to enter into institutional agreements without consulting or informing the Residents' Assembly (RA).

Following a court ruling of the Tindivanam court on October 25th, the disputed land area bordering Evergreen community which had been in Auroville's peaceful possession for over 32 years has now been cleared of all vegetation.

Prashant Hedao was the Regional Planning Coordinator of L’Avenir d’Auroville, Auroville’s Town Planning Department, from 2007-2010. In those years he worked closely together with then Governing Board member Dr BV Doshi on the Auroville Master Plan.

The website of the Auroville Foundation mentions that retired Gujarat cadre IAS officer Shri Kuniyil Kailashnathan, the new Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry, has been inducted as a member of the Governing Board of the Auroville Foundation.

According to an article in The Hindu, the establishment of an IIT Madras Research Park and a Centrally supported Innovation Hub were discussed in the 68th meeting of the Governing Board held in Auroville on 5 December.

On November 11th, an article in the Times of India mentioned that the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (All India Anna Dravidian Progressive Federation - AIADMK), currently the main opposition party in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, which has great influence in the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry, demanded a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), India's primary domestic crime-investigating agency, into the alleged irregularities in land exchanges at Auroville.

In light of an interview published in Auroville Today’s October issue that presented a perspective on Auroville’s current governance situation, we feel it necessary to offer a different view that more accurately reflects the experiences and concerns of many in our community.

The Admissions Committee (i.e. the Auroville Entry Board) reminded the community that there is currently a case pending in the Madras High Court about a document entitled ‘Auroville Foundation (Admission and Termination of Persons in the Register of Residents) Regulations, 2023’ published in The Gazette of India by the Secretary of the Auroville Foundation on behalf of the Governing Board.

The Chairman and Secretary of the Auroville International Governing Board have written to the Director-General of UNESCO regarding ‘disturbing developments’ in Auroville.

A report in The Hindu newspaper said that on October 2nd the Board members were apprised of various projects and interacted with various community groups, including representatives from the Funds and Assets Management Committee (FAMC), the Working Committee, the Land Board and the Auroville Town Development Council, in the interest of “fostering dialogue”.

Views of the Governing Board on the Auroville economy as mentioned in the minutes of the 57th Governing Board Meeting held in December 2021.

The newspaper The Hindu reported on August 7th that the Minister of State for Education, Shri Sukanta Majumdar, replying in Parliament to a set of questions about Auroville, had said that the Central Government has referred a range of complaints, including dubious land exchanges, encroachment, cybercrime and money laundering in Auroville, to the appropriate bodies / agencies.

The minutes of the 67th meeting of the Governing Board held on May 31st have still not been published.

For the past three years, we have seen the arrival of another type of Secretary, a new top-down style of governance, and an imposed vision of development of Auroville.

The Working Committee selected by the Residents’ Assembly (RA-WCom) called for an emergency decision of the Residents’ Assembly (RAD) regarding the sales and exchanges of Auroville owned lands.

Sathiya, a second-generation Aurovilian, speaks about her upbringing and her unwavering commitment to Auroville's ethos despite external pressures.

The Working Committee constituted by the Residents’ Assembly (RA-WCom) has shared with the community extensive information regarding land exchanges and transactions that have taken place in the last two years.

On June 9th, the Auroville International Advisory Council (IAC) shared with the community that during a joint meeting with the GB on May 31st, it had called for a more transparent and inclusive land exchange process.

The RA-WCom informed the community that the hearings in the Supreme Court of India on the verdict from the Madras High Court of 15th March 2024, which had invalidated the GB’s Auroville Town Development Council (ATDC) and had called for more collaboration between the GB and the Residents’ Assembly (RA), will probably take place in the second week of July.