A section of residents in Auroville has welcomed the Madras High Court order annulling the governing board’s unilateral reconstitution of the Township Development Committee.
In a press statement, the residents said the Auroville Foundation Office (AVFO), through its Secretary, has been attempting to dictate a programme to disrupt Auroville and its self-governance, since taking office last year.
This authoritative positioning towards implementing the Master Plan — Perspective 2025 — in a hurry without any consultation and against the integral wishes of the Residents’ Assembly has been met with resistance by the community towards upholding the wishes of the Auroville Charter and the Mother’s dream.
There have been several decision-making processes in Auroville, which have neither been respected nor acknowledged by the Secretary and the Governing Board during this time. A multitude of Standing Orders and Office Orders were issued by the Secretary and the Governing Board, disrespecting the processes of the Residents’ Assembly; parallel offices have been appointed and run, dismissing community elected residents without reason. Given the failure of the Secretary to enter into a dialogue with the Residents’ Assembly, the residents were forced to go to court to highlight the due processes by which Auroville has been functioning and to protest against the attempt of the Secretary to bypass all regulations and rules of the Auroville Foundation Act in governing Auroville, the press statement said.
“The Madras High Court has ruled in favour of the Residents’ Assembly today by establishing the right of the community, giving constitutional validity to the already existing Working Committee, and upholding the right of the community to govern itself,” the statement said.
The decision reinforces the rights of the Residents’ Assembly and insists that all other bodies of the Auroville Foundation act in consultation with it, as per the Act and Rules, it added.
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