The President of the Governing Board reaffirmed the Board’s resolve to fulfill its mandate of implementing the Master Plan and promoting the ideals of Auroville; Addresses the Auroville community at the Unity Pavilion organized to share “serious concerns over the state of affairs in Auroville”
The President of the Governing Board reaffirmed the Board’s resolve to fulfill its mandate of implementing the Master Plan and promoting the ideals of Auroville; Addresses the Auroville community at the Unity Pavilion organized to share “serious concerns over the state of affairs in Auroville”
In his first direct remarks about the controversy surrounding the implementation of the Auroville plan, RN Ravi, Chairman of the Auroville Governing Board and Governor of Tamil Nadu, said that it was sad to see such a small family suffering from so many differences, even He reaffirmed the Board’s resolve to fulfill. Its mandate to implement the master plan and promote the ideals of Auroville.
According to a press note from Auroville Media Interface, the chairman of the governing board regretted that the reports and videos in poor taste were shared with national and international media, and circulated on social media, alleging It was learned that Auroville was being destroyed by an authoritarian administration. , Some residents even went to court, he said addressing the Auroville community at the Unity Pavilion, International Zone, at a meeting on Monday apparently convened to share “serious concerns over the state of affairs in Auroville”.
The governing board was pained to see this small family of 3,000 divided by so many differences. While all this has damaged Auroville’s image, he insists that what is more important is its essence. “We don’t need the Auroville brand, but we need the Auroville spirit,” he said. He added that the mandate of the Governing Board is to promote the ideals of Auroville and were formulated by the Governing Board in consultation with the Residents’ Assembly. The Auroville Master Plan was to be implemented, which was notified in the Gazette in 2010 after a decades-long process. “Unfortunately, the implementation of the Master Plan has faced resistance from some, while others have been in Auroville Township as planned. support its development”.
According to Mr. Ravi, the Government of India has provided extraordinary facilities for the development of Auroville such as visas and tax exemptions for foreign nationals. These are given with the belief that Auroville will develop according to its ideals. Unfortunately, government agencies have evidence of several violations within Auroville, such as substance abuse and other illegal activities, he said. He notes with regret that there is currently an ongoing debate as to who has more power, the Governing Board or the Residents’ Assembly. The Governing Board recognized only two powers: the Constitution and Law of India on the one hand, and the Charter and Vision of Mother and Sri Aurobindo on the other. He said that India cannot allow Auroville to fail as it has the greatest Indian universal ideal of unity of “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam”.
The president urged the Auroville people to consider how ideals could be restored; Having said that the Government of India had to act once, and it would be unfortunate if they had to act again. He said that Mother had established Auroville in 1968, but the Government of India was forced to take over the management of Auroville in 1980 as it went into a state of disrepair, leading to the creation of the Auroville Foundation Act, 1988. “Therefore, faced with the issues at hand, the status quo cannot remain. The original, the charter, the teachings of Sri Aurobindo must be respected and restored to Auroville as the center of life”, he said. Touching on his recent tours of various places in Auroville, Sri Ravi observed that instead of being a place of meditation for Aurovilleans, the place was functioning more as a tourist attraction. He said that some Auroville units were doing only traditional trade and commerce. Farms were still not able to produce enough food for this small community.
Shri Ravi called for developing a work-around for the residents to take forward the practice of Integral Yoga. He urged residents to give their creative suggestions within a week on how to restore the ideals of Auroville as its center. He said the feedback would be reviewed and forwarded constructively. The Unity Pavilion address was organized ahead of the Governing Board meeting on Tuesday, which was attended by Lieutenant Governor Tamilisai Sundararajan, Jayanti Ravi, Secretary of Auroville Foundation and other members.