Response to Outreach Media of Auroville

Dear all, 

I’m writing this on behalf of many concerned residents, in response to the email sent by Fabienne to all the Auroville entities and openly publishing it on the Auronet. 

She has asked 3 questions and here are responses for each one of them.

  1. On what grounds was this decision made?
    Is common sense good enough? Fabienne of Outreach Media went on a blitzkrieg after the MoM of GB was released on the 3rd Dec and action started on the 4th. She frantically reached out to media houses, national and international, planting skewed and sentimental stories, to evoke sensationalism while there was none. Outreach media was set up to manage the misinformation and avoiding detrimental narratives, however in this case, she herself indulged in such actions, which are deplorable given the delicate scenario within the community. The need of the hour was to find solutions within our community, rather than sending SOS messages outside, without giving a second thought to its long term effect, in terms of fundraising, image of India, etc. 
    Auroville Foundation’s Under Secretary Sri Srinivasmurty’s request to Fabienne 1. to restrain from publicity (Dec21), and, 2. move the assets (Jan22) after taking cognizance of the damage it is (or will) creating is timely and appreciable.
  2. Have the 3 bodies that together constitute the Auroville Foundation been consulted and agreed to this decision?
    Conflated sense of self-importance. For every small decision, like transfer of few assets, should all 3 bodies be consulted and wait for the agreement? The community have long drawn processes (which will put the worst kind of bureaucratic systems to shame) and ill-adapted for quick decision-making, calling for such seems to be an excellent instrument to delay. If we follow this argument, and decisions regarding transfer of assets are deemed so important, why were the mentioned 3 bodies not considered, consulted before giving those assets in the first place, and what about the appointment of an executive to this ‘important’ position? It’s purely a self-appointment, like the executives of Auroville Today, News&Notes, Auroville Radio, etc. Moreover, now Outreach Media is managed by One Executive – Fabienne. If the Auroville Foundation believes the damage caused by Fabienne is of extraordinary proportions with grave consequences for the outlook of India, on the international stage, by all means, it is in their purview to act, and they’ve done so, rightly, by asking her simply to move the assets. How come, outreach of Auroville is an unrestrained, unquestioned, unrelenting personal fiefdom of one individual? The 3 bodies ought to come together to decide on the whims and fancies of one person? Preposterous?
  3. Has the FAMC, as the mandated body responsible for managing assets of Auroville, been consulted and agreed to this decision?
    I personally think this point is valid. Funds and Assets Management Committee (FAMC), the relevant body under the Auroville Foundation, could have been kept in the loop. I am sure they would have collaborated, given the circumstances. After all, Sabine who worked in N&N was removed from executive-ship on some flimsy grounds, by the FAMC. So, there is precedent for FAMC to take action. 

Having mentioned the above, the main assets of Outreach Media are not some computers and cameras. It is the connections that Outreach Media has carefully cultivated over many years as an official voice of Auroville, and Fabienne as the face of it. The media, world over, is buying Fabienne’s story because the media thinks she is Auroville’s voice. When Fabienne sends distress calls to her email lists asking for the world to help against the so-called ‘high-handed’ external force named Government of India, the individuals who truly care about Auroville believe it and the media finds it lucrative. 
I find the second email by Fabienne, wherein she refuses to comply to the request, even more worrisome. She mentions she’s ‘charged’ with managing the Outreach Media on behalf of the Residents’ Assembly of Auroville. I think it is a false claim, or else, I am happy to read the note that corroborates her position. She then goes on to talk about the ‘Jurisdiction’, which by definition means ‘the official power to make legal decisions and judgements’. I don’t think 19(2)(b) – in haste she read it as 19(b) – mentions anything being under direct jurisdiction of RA. The section 19 of AVF Act enumerates the ‘Functions of the Residents’ Assembly’, it is not the ‘right’ ‘power’ or ‘legal means’ in any sense. The 19(2) says ‘In particular, and without prejudice to the foregoing powers, the Residents‟ Assembly may-‘ and (b) says ‘organise various activities relating to Auroville’ not sure where she got her facts from. Whereas, section 17 of AVF explicitly mentions ‘Powers and functions of the Governing Board’ and 17(d) mentions ‘to monitor and review the activities of Auroville and to secure proper management of the properties vested in the Foundation under section 6 and other properties relatable to Auroville’ based on which Auroville Foundation is duly and ‘lawfully’ acting, given the mismanagement of assets.
In the 3rd para of her second letter, she mentions ‘As such, the FAMC of the RA is the authority that is charged with the duty and power over all funds and assets of Auroville…’, and again it’s a misreading of the facts. The FAMC is mandated with some functions, it is not ‘the authority’ and it does not have ‘power’ over all funds and assets. In fact, FAMC performs under the Governing Board of Auroville Foundation and the Under Secretary is also part of the FAM Committee. In the final para, she suggests the Auroville Foundation to ‘apply to the FAMC seeking clearance or any other permission’. Her defiance gives a feeling, she believes the Auroville Foundation is under the ‘authority’ of FAMC. After going through her emails, having seen the glaring gaps in her understanding of Auroville Foundation Act and misreadings about ‘powers’ and ‘authority’, I wonder what other misinformations have we been spreading out in previous years. 
Given the confrontational attitude presented in Fabienne’s email to everyone, it’s clear she is taking the request from Auroville Foundation personally, rather than thinking of the collective good. I sincerely hope she lets the new volunteers, Joel and Sindhuja, work at par with her. I hope she uses her power positively and productively. To make things clear, the Auroville Foundation is not taking over the Outreach Media. They simply asked other willing volunteers from the community, who are not trigger-happy and are better restrained in the actions, to manage it. 
Thank you for your attention and time. I request each one of you to take the pains to be aware of the alternate thoughts and underlying motivations, and support actions which helps in the progress of Auroville, instead of PAUSING Auroville.

Who will Compensate Auroville for its losses?

For over a year now the Forest Group and the Youth Centre (YC) have opposed the clearing of the Crown (ROW) and the laying of an electrical cable alongside it. Arguments have been heard from their side justifying their claim that the Crown should not pass through the YC or the Bliss Forest. The TDC has replied to their arguments explaining why it is necessary to clear the circular Crown right-of-way (RoW) as provided for in the master plan. Almost 300 Aurovilians have written a letter of support to the TDC requesting them to continue their work. The Secretary of the Auroville Foundation has also directed the TDC to complete the task of clearing the master plan RoWs and to lay the HT cable along its designated path along the cleared Crown RoW. He has also directed that other master plan RoWs must be cleared. When the TDC sent a team to survey and mark the Crown, YC residents told them that they are not welcome there and that no survey should take place. One member of the Forest Group had remarked in a posting that proceeding with the work may lead to violence (“We seem to be heading for a violent clash. When the TDC orders the JCB to cut through the YC it will be hard to find peaceful space for dialogue and mutual understanding”).

The defiant blocking of the progress of the development work of building the Township goes against the fundamental structure of the Auroville Foundation Act, the provisions of which govern the functioning of the Auroville Foundation.

How is one to deal with such a situation? It was never expected that Aurovilians would act against Auroville. Hence this situation is new and needs some thinking on what to do.

For those who do not know the background of the TDC here is a brief history of the creation of the TDC.

The Auroville Master Plan provides for the establishment of a “Town Development Council” with an organisation structure as given in Appendix V of the Master Plan (page 108). The Auroville Master Plan also provides for a “Prescribed Authority” to be established by the Auroville Foundation for the implementation of the Master Plan.  In the Standing Order by which the TDC was established by the Governing Board in May 2011, the TDC was also designated as the “Prescribed Authority” for implementation of the Master Plan. The Standing Order by which the TDC was established was amended in June 2019 to take care of a technical detail.

The Governing Board has been given the mandate of ensuring development of Auroville in accordance with the Auroville Master Plan as per section 17(e) of the Auroville Foundation Act. With the establishment of the TDC, the Governing Board undertakes this responsibility through the TDC. Residents of Auroville are expected to take part in the planning and development of Auroville as also shown in the organisation diagram of the TDC on page 108 of the Master Plan document.

The TDC Standing Order makes a reference to l’avenir d’Auroville as follows: “Since the name “L’avenir d’Auroville” was given by the Mother for the Township Planning, developing and building the organisation; the Council shall retain it and may use the expression “Auroville Town Development Council – L’avenir d’Auroville” in its internal communications”.

Getting back to the situation of blocking the progress of the works of TDC, here are some thoughts:

The Mother has told us: “No big creation is possible without Discipline – individual discipline, group discipline, discipline towards the Divine” (16-09-1968).

Could it be that far too many people have entered Auroville who do not have any faith in Mother’s idea of Auroville and want to replace Her idea with their own? If that is so then what should be done? From various communications, postings and meetings it appears that increasingly residents of Auroville seem to think that they are the “clients” of the TDC and that the township is to be built as per their wishes rather than acting as volunteers who build the Mother’s town, where she is the “client” and we are the workers.

The blocking of the work of the town development infrastructure has caused financial losses to Auroville. An issue arises about who will compensate Auroville for these losses. There is an urgent need to hold the people causing these losses accountable and liable to compensate Auroville.

Another related issue arises from this and similar incidents: Many individuals, institutions and corporations have provided donations and grants to Auroville. The Government of India has also provided grants for the development of the Auroville Township. The project of the Auroville Township has been detailed in various brochures that describe Auroville as well as the master plan that sets out how the Auroville Township is to be developed. These brochures have been circulated amongst donors who have contributed for this purpose. Land has been purchased with this plan in mind. Equipment and materials have been purchased to develop the township, including its infrastructure, as per this plan. To use the land for purposes other than for which it was purchased creates a criminal liability towards those who have donated. The people who have encroached upon the land and put it to some other use need to be held accountable and liable under the law of the land.

A reading of the minutes of the meetings of the Governing Board confirms that the Governing Board on numerous occasions had called for accelerating the development of the Auroville township including the preparation of detailed development plans. In their meeting of 8th September 2019, the Governing Board noted that the true experiment of Auroville will only start when Auroville is a vibrant township with 50,000 residents. The Board further noted: “All programs and projects of the Auroville Foundation will henceforth be aligned with the larger program of building the Auroville township within a time frame and as per the Auroville Master Plan.”

However, these directives and guidelines have been flouted specially in relation to the structure and functioning of the Town Development Council, compliance with the Auroville Master Plan and consistent and continuous engagement with the Tamil Nadu Government for the creation of a statutory land use regulation mechanism.  

A masterly continuous argumentation over some issue or the other causing long delays and effectively annulling the directives of the Governing Board has been a strategy used to good effect. Some members of Auroville working groups are seen openly taking sides with those who oppose the Galaxy Concept and the Master Plan based on it, and with those who block the clearing of the Crown and other master plan RoWs and the installation of infrastructure services. In effect they use their position to support the blockage against the work of the TDC rather than assisting with the development of the Auroville Township.

This leads to the following reflections:

1.  What are the consequences for either individuals or a working group that causes financial loss to Auroville? Since no machinery exists within Auroville to claim compensation for losses caused to Auroville, do we use the ordinary legal machinery of the civil and criminal courts to claim this compensation? If we do not want to use the ordinary legal machinery then what are the other ways to deal with this ?There is a need to think about this before it is too late and things go out of our hand.

2. Auroville is being built with financial support in the form of donations and grants, which are given by people who have been touched by the vision of the Mother of her Township. Should there be any consequences for individuals or groups of individuals who covertly or overtly work against the township plans? Since there does not seem to be any mechanism in Auroville to deal with such actions, should Auroville act under ordinary law where such acts may be perceived and treated as cheating and misappropriation, which are criminal offences? Would Auroville need to resort to such measures when the need arises?

Let us work for the development of Auroville and forget the past

by Lavkamad

Dear friends.

As I understood, every one agrees that the galaxy model should be implemented as it was approved by the Mother!

Every one agrees to work for the growth of Auroville! 

 I believe that a city of 3-5K habitant is not sustainable, especially when we look at the current economy of Auroville! 

The current economy is Gastro and Spa economy instead of knowledge based economy.

We are not moving in the direction of unending education…. as per the Charter of Auroville!

We don’t have any institution of higher education or R&D. Education and R&D needs lot of funding.

Let us look at where do we need growth and where we are currently not moving in the right direction.

We all need infrastructure for the development, we all need housing , we all need education institutions, health care facilities, work places where we can raise our potential and consciousness, where we can practice unending education, R&D, we need economy to support our activities. 

We all know that the trees have to be cut, water bodies need to be shifted to build the city of 50000 habitant. We would need also space for Education Institutions, we would need space for R&D, we would need space for workplace or industry or for knowledge economy! 

The dream weaver is a team of experts and let them work on the detail plan! But for the detail plan they too need some fixed points such as Galaxy model, crwon road etc. If we put this in question, we are asking them to begin from the whole process from the scratch and forget all about the Galaxy etc. We all know that it may takes years to finalize and get approval of it! 

But what of City would come out of such an excercise? Would it be the right city for the place to develop consciousness? Would it be the city of vision of the Mother? 

We can’t begin again from the scratch and ask each and every one how the Masterplan should be! In my 50 years in Germany in Hamburg, I have seen that the masterplan was made by the Town  Development Authority e.g. development of the harbour area and the same may be true for the development of the London Harbour city!

Currently few are raising  questions on the ivalidty of the masterplan of 1999, which was  approved by the then RA. The detail plan is to be developed and this task has been taken over by the dearm weaver and is being supported and funded by the GOI.  I believe that this is the right approach, instead of beginning from the scratch!

Currently the Govt. of India which has its focus on the development of the country is willing to spent money to build the city on the base of the approved masterplan of 1999!

What I know is that the planned budget of 1000 Crore is for the buying the land, to build the infrastructure and for the housing. But no funds are for higher educational institutions, to build facilities to conduct R&D in Auroville,to promote entrepreneurs, for creating knowledge economy etc. 

Why don’t we ask the GOI e.g. to build an Institute of higher education based on integral education and Integral Yoga for academic and R&D in Auroville itself! Once we have such an Instution in Auroville we will be on the path of unending education R&D, innovation from within and without! Pl. understand that every where in the  world education & R&D institutions are either supported by the Govt. or owned by the private industry or financed by them. I would rather prefer institutions supported by the Govt. rather then by a private company ! 
Auroville would never have finances to run an institute of higher education and R&D! Here we would always depends on Govt. 

Instead of fighting for a diversion in the crown road or for few trees , we should fight for better facilities which would enable us to find, how to achieve human unity, how our education system should be for the consiousbeing, how our wholistic approach in R& D should be at the time of climate change, how should our green building be designed, how we can find solutions to protect environment  etc. etc. in short work on solutions for the betterment of human development and the earth as our living space!

Let us fight for the right cause and not for a diversion in crown road to save one or another tree or a waterbody!