In-kind maintenance system

Krishna Devanandan has a background as a dancer, cultural event organiser and teacher of Tai Chi. She helped organise the Auroville Film Festivals and managed the Auroville Art Service from its inception in 2012 until 2023, when the Auroville Foundation appointed new executives.

The City Services Lunch Scheme began more than 10 years ago as a way of enlarging the in-kind maintenance system. It was developed to help those working in the services to supplement the monthly maintenance which was not enough to cover the basic needs of living and working here.

The Auroville Board of Services (ABS), in its annual gathering on August 13th, observed that service managers who rely on a community maintenance find this is too low to cover their basic needs, even with the provided in-kind component, which still does not cover expenses such as transport or housing.