Dear Community members,
Please see below a message from Dr. Karan Singh sent to the Working Committee on 21.01.22.
With best regards,
The Working Committee
***
Dear Working Committee,
Thank you for your New Year greetings. Despite all the recent tension I sincerely hope that you will move forward with the Secretary in a coordinated manner to start the long and difficult task of building the Aurobindo Township.
Warm regards to you all,
Karan Singh
21.01.2022
Dear Residents,
Here are the results of the RAD (voting): “To pause all clearing, infrastructure laying and permanent construction work on the Right of Ways of Crown, Radials and Outer Ring in order to enable the community to define a way forward for Auroville’s development, following:
The outcome shall be approved through a ratified Residents’ Assembly Decision-making process, before the above specified clearing, infrastructure laying and permanent construction work resumes”.
A total of 899 valid votes have been submitted online and in-person. The number of participants exceeded the 10 per cent quorum required to validate the decision (243 votes).*
* Based on data received form the Residents Service, the total adult population of our community eligible to participate in RADs (age – above 18, confirmed Aurovilians) is 2427 (as of the month of January 2022).
RESIDENTS’ ASSEMBLY DECISION:
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89% (803) Aurovilians supported the above proposal.
11% (96) Aurovilians DID NOT support it.
According to the RAD policy, “8. Responsibility for implementing decisions made through this RAD process lies with the concerned working group/s or resident/s”.
Many thanks to all the residents who participated in this decision-making event!
~ With gratitude,
The Residents’ Assembly Service
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.
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.
Some weeks ago as the crisis unfolded and the stay order was imposed on Auroville without any warning, I received a letter from a longtime friend of Auroville from AVI Germany which I am sharing here.
I have held this letter to my heart, to see just what Auroville means to people across the world. The hope it carries is like a treasure in the lives and dreams of people who cannot be here but who are part of this adventure nevertheless, from far or near, shining the light of Auroville wherever they are. As Aurovilians we hold this treasure in trust, as willing servitors, for humanity as a whole. It is not ours to stop, or falsify, or divide.
Dear All,
When I heard the news from Auroville,tears welled up in my eyes.
I cannot express in words how desperate this makes me.
I thought long and hard about writing something about this, because I have seen, read and experienced a lot in Auroville in the last 30 years.
I thought that after all this time it should be possible for the Aurovillians to come to some common understanding, at least to make a start.
If not in Auroville, where else should it be? In Auroville a small but very fine difference to the rest of the world should be possible.
The Divine has no, really no limits and so many more (not to say “all possibilities”) possibilities than man can ever fathom. THEY can even work with governments.
Also there are no limits for them.
So why is it that we humans have no faith in what we see every day, what we relate to every day in Auroville, whose earth Aurovillians get to walk on every day.
We read, try to live what Sri Aurobindo and the Mother have taught us.
Where is the value, if we don´t.
The Mother has given us Auroville – what a gift – what an opportunity – it exists only once in the world…
So what do we want?
The endless quarrels among ourselves, the constant resistance, the resentment among each other and against each other should at least become less at some point.
In my view, the Mother and Sri Aurobindo cannot work like this.
Nothing will stay as it is.
So why don’t we have faith?
We relate to THEM, to what they have left behind and when faced with difficulties of any colour we have nothing to offer but to argue, to fight, to compete, to use violent language against each other, to outdo each other with comments and phrases and words that bring us apart instead of bringing us together. Creating Auroville together, building the city together, that is what I thought Auroville was also about.
If in building a city, a road – mind you it is just a road – roads are built, changed and rebuilt, changed again and rebuilt again….redesigned and built and rebuilt again….. thousands every day in the world –
In Auroville a common ground cannot be found – and the construction of a road can move such riots – what is it to become?
It is also about how and that a common ground is found and we develop the capacity to do that. Or is it not?
What will it become in the future – in other projects?
The Mother wanted a city – no much more – she gave us the unique opportunity on the way to building a city – to develop ourselves – to see if at least a few appropriate people can gather there to create a possibility to prepare the next leap of consciousness – and to live it in a city – built by consciousness, where the soil is saturated with consciousness, where the buildings are constructed by people in love with the vision of building such a city together in peace.
It is only possible together in peace – otherwise we do not have to get up even.
We are all allowed to have a part in this and contribute something.
If we open quarrels like this for every project in Auroville and sink into them and feed divisions like this for decades and decades to come, what will we leave behind for the children, what will they do, what kind of city will this become?
This is exactly what they want.
If we are not able at least to begin to build a little bit of the city in the way of this actually immense opportunity she gave us – to what will we look upon physically and spiritually?
In deep surrender and everlasting love for Auroville.
Dagmar
Auroville will become what it must be only if and when the people living there will stop lying.
The Mother.March 18th,1973
Sustainability – a new goal for Auroville?
One hears the word sustainability a lot these days.. It is used in all types of contexts by all types of people and probably means different things to different people.Technically it is a term used by economists and policy makers to denote a concern for the environment including all natural resources that are needed by man to sustain himself.It underlines the concern for sustaining and preserving all natural resources needed by men for their life and ensuring that they are used in a way that they are replenished and not destroyed.
Translated into more common usage I would define it as meaning a lifestyle for human beings that draws for its sustenance as much of material as is needed for a simple lifestyle and which can be replenished or replaced in some form or another. It implies a conscious control of human greed. It implies conscious holding back of the forces of development and money that seek more and more profit for their owners. Stated in this way sustainability is another way of saying “a simple life” which is also what Mother wanted for Auroville.
The point I am trying to make is that while sustainable development is a natural consequence of Auroville’s values it is not the principal aim.Those who are projecting Auroville as such are lying.
Auroville has aims that speak of transformation.The very first line of the Auroville Charter speaks of being a willing servitor of Divine Consciousness.The last line of the Charter speaks of achieving Human Unity.Those who have read The Ideal Of Human Unity by Sri Aurobindo know that Human Unity in the context of the vision of Mother and Sri Aurobindo means a spiritual transformation and nothing else.
Even scientists are coming to that conclusion.Here is a statement by one,”I used to think the top environmental problems were biodiversity loss,ecosystem collapse and climate change.
I thought that with 30 years of good science we could address those problems.
But I was wrong.The top environmental problems are selfishness,greed and apathy…..
……and to deal with those we need a spiritual and cultural transformation.
…..and we scientists dont know how to do that.”Gus Speth
Dear Auroville Residents,
A number of us have come together alarmed by the current situation in Auroville. We find that the idea of building a township, which is the central project of the Mother for Auroville is increasingly put in question. We find that the idea that the galaxy plan needs to be revised as per the wishes of some of the present Auroville residents has gained ground. There is also an increasing sense of territorialism whereby the development of Auroville needs to be “negotiated” with “stewards” who seem to feel that they are free to change township plans as they wish.
Like many others in Auroville we are alarmed at the idea that lands are being encroached upon without any effective counter resistance to these encroachments. We are alarmed that there are speculators hovering around Auroville wanting to use Auroville and its neighbourhood for lucrative development projects. We are alarmed that no concrete steps have been taken to protect the land of Auroville although there were and are options for statutory land use regulation, which is the only way to ensure this protection.
We are also alarmed that the economy of Auroville increasingly develops in a direction that deviates from the economy that the Mother had envisaged for Auroville. In the Mother’s vision Auroville would be a self-supporting township without exchange of money between its residents while all basic needs would be taken care of. We are far away from this ideal.
We notice that the above concerns are shared by many . A number of us would like to work on creating a movement of change with a focus on the realisation of the Auroville township both in terms of its physical development and the realisation of the social, economic, educational, cultural and other dimensions of the socio-economic fabric of the township in accordance with the spiritual vision and ideals given by the Mother. We welcome all Aurovilians to join hands in the pursuit of these and other objectives given by the Mother.
The group is called Universal Township with email ID auroville-universal-town@Googlegroups.com.We welcome suggestions from everyone committed to realise the Auroville vision given by the Mother in all its dimensions.In this sense all Aurovilians are members of this group.We invite suggestions,questions and offers of collaboration.
Anandi,Aryamani,Devasmita,Divya(karun),Jacqueline,Louis Cohen,Joseba,Sanjeev,Satyakam
on behalf of the group.
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?
There is a lot of misleading information being spread about the central circle in the Galaxy Plan ( called the Crown),the Master Plan,the purpose of Auroville etc.both inside and outside Auroville.Friends in Delhi have reported having received letters with such information.At the risk of repetition some of us have compiled the facts as we know them to help anyone who wants to verify what is being spread around.
Myth
In Auroville we must achieve human unity and spiritual growth before the township gets built. The material township must be the outer expression of the spiritual growth of the present residents.
Fact
The Mother made it clear in 1971 that there is no such division between spirituality and material life. She wanted disciplined workers to build her town. Please see below.
Q: To what extent does the building of Auroville depend on man’s acceptance of spirituality?
“The opposition between spirituality and material life, the division between the two, has no meaning for me, for in truth life and the spirit are one and it is in and by physical work that the highest spirit must manifest”. [19-04-1968]
“Auroville is in the construction stage and disciplined workers are needed.
Those who do not want or are not able to follow a discipline should not be here at present.
Good will, sincerity and discipline are indispensable qualities for those who want to be Aurovilians”. [23-04-1971]
Comment
Auroville could not even have started if “spiritual growth first” would have been a precondition. Spiritual growth and the growth of the township go hand-in-hand. There is no “first” and “after”. The township is meant to become a “laboratory of evolution”.
The statement “spiritual growth and human unity first” displays a culture of double standards. Persons who make these statements do so after theyhave comfortably settled in Auroville, when the houses in which they live and the roads leading to these houses have been built and after electricity, water and internet have been provided to them. To bring up the precondition of building the city only after one has been taken care of, is applying double standards. Essentially one says that now that we are comfortable, the door for others is closed. “Do not disturb us in our comfort” is the message.
The disciplined workers who the Mother had called for seem to have become undisciplined land lords with double standards and high levels of hypocrisy.
Myth
Auroville is meant to grow organically. No (detailed) plans must be prepared now. We shall see how Auroville unfolds.
Facts
The Mother appointed Roger Anger as the Architect of Auroville to prepare detailed plans. Please see message below.
“Now I have my overall plan, I am waiting for Roger to draw the detailed plans, for I had said from the beginning: “Roger will be the architect”, and I wrote to Roger”.
The Mother wanted the architects and engineers to stop discussing and questioning the town plans and instead help with the building of the town. Please see message below.
Myth
The Mother did not approve the Crown and therefore the Crown and the Crown road are not essential parts of the galaxy plan / master plan.
Fact
The Mother did not approve separately the individual components of the galaxy plan (Crown, radials, zones, sectors, lines of force). She approved the entire plan after having worked on it for three years with Roger. When she has approved the entire plan and asked Roger to work on the details, the question of the Mother approving individual plan components does not arise.
The Mother appointed Roger as the architect to prepare the detailed drawings.
The galaxy plan drawings of 1968, the master plan document prepared by the Residents Assembly and the Auroville Master Plan as notified by the Auroville Foundation all show the Crown with the Crown road as a perfect circle.
Myth
The galaxy concept and master plan are outdated and does not address today’s climate change issues.
Facts
In a note of 1965 that Roger had prepared for the Mother on the township he states the following about cars: “The reign of cars has conditioned the urbanism of the 20th century and continues to tyrannize it”. Please see Roger’s note below with Mother’s comment written in the margin. Clearly, the Mother and Roger were way ahead of their times.
Roger: “The mobility principle in Auroville must be defined right now. Shall we allow the presence of cars! Probably in just a few years India will know, same as Europe and the US, the major urban problem the automobile is. The reign of cars has conditioned the urbanism of the 20th century and continues to tyrannize it. Although outdated, and everybody knows it, still the automobile strives at its best to create hell inside the cities and kill the outskirts. Therefore, the option to follow is to forbid and suppress the usage of this means of transportation within the town – and replace it by another, more hygienic, less cumbersome and noisy, more aesthetical, maybe newer if possible”.
The Mother writes in the margin of the note:
“Small size electrically powered vehicles, capable of transporting about 200 Kg at a speed of 15 km/h”.
Auroville pioneered grid-connected solar energy systems in 2012. These pioneering efforts contributed to the formulation of the solar energy policies in several states in the country.
Auroville has implemented the first two phases of a Smart Mini Grid with distributed solar energy generation and storage, smart metering and (remote) demand side management systems. Ministry of Power (National Smart Grid Mission) of the Government of India has endorsed the project.
The electricity master plan that was prepared in 2014 (on the basis of the Auroville Master Plan) is designed to integrate distributed renewable energy generation and storage systems.
Comments
There is nothing in the Auroville Master plan that prevents the Auroville township from becoming a sustainable township. It has already been demonstrated that interconnected systems of solar energy generation and storage can contribute to a sustainable energy future for Auroville.
It has also been demonstrated that e-cycles are a viable alternative to motorcycles and cars.
The problem is not with the township infrastructure plans but with the behaviour and lifestyle of the present Auroville residents, including the residents who question the master plan:
What does all of this say about the climate-consciousness of the present residents? Is the problem with the master plan or with the lifestyle of the present residents?
Myth
The Crown RoW (right of way) and other master plan RoWs occupy vast areas of land.
Facts
| Right of Way | Percentage of Master Plan land area |
| Crown RoW | 0.36% |
| Outer Ring RoW | 0.63% |
| 12 radials + IZ loop + 1 link road | 0.67% |
| Total | 1.64% |
Comment
Can the stewards and custodians of the Auroville township land not even manage to keep 1.64% of the master plan area free from buildings and trees?
Myth
The Auroville Universal Township Master Plan is not binding on the Auroville Foundation and the Auroville residents who may develop Auroville as they wish.
Facts
The Auroville Master Plan was approved by the Ministry of HRD on 12thApril 2001 (letter No. F.27-3/2000-UU). The Auroville Master Plan was notified in the Government of India gazette on 16-08-2010.
For the realisation of the Auroville Master Plan funds have been raised (and are being raised) and land was purchased.
Under section 17(e) of the Auroville Foundation Act, the Governing Board of the Auroville Foundation has to ensure that Auroville is developed in accordance with the Master Plan.
A Decision – Finally
6th Nov 2021
There have been decades of discussion of how to implement the Master Plan or even whether to implement it or not. The net result of these endless discussions is that no major town development as per the Master Plan has taken place.
There were efforts to get statutory land use protection in place since 2002. These were also blocked on the ground that there will then be government interference. Those who blocked these efforts have not come up, or implemented a viable alternative solution. As a result we can see speculators surround Auroville to find how best they can make a lucrative deal for themselves. The situation has become critical so much so that the Government of India has decided to intervene once again, as it did before in 1980.
The Chairman of the Auroville Foundation announced some of the decisions taken by the Governing Board during the meeting of the GB with the Aurovilians on 2nd November, 2021. While we await the recording of the Chairman’s speech and the minutes of the meeting of the Governing Board, here is the gist of some of the statements made:
A positive decision has now been taken, putting to rest arguments and debates dividing Auroville residents in connection with the building of the Auroville Township. Let us collaborate and start a new phase in the realisation of Auroville .
