News & Notes 605:Report of the Working Committee June 2015
Entity::Working Committee report for June 2015
Main topics dealt with in June 2015:
New Town Development Authority
A report of the joint visits of the Under-Secretary, Sindhuja for the Auroville Council, Sauro for the TDC and Carel for the Working Committee to Dr. M.S. Swaminathan and a high official of the Tamil Nadu government on the topic of the protection of the lands in the Auroville area and the advisability to apply for an New Town Development Authority was published in the News and Notes of June 6th.
Way Forward
On July 2nd a meeting of the Vision Task Force took place with representatives of the following Action Groups: Education, Economy, Governance, Youth, and Land & Town Planning. Two Action groups, Growth and Bioregion, are scheduled to meet for the first time in July as most of their members have been out of station.
The various Action Plans and Reports will be made available on the Auronet and the News and Notes until the dedicated Way Forward website is ready. A joint meeting of all the Action Groups will be scheduled in August.
The next meetings of the VTF will be on August 8th and September 2nd. On October 2nd, a day before the GB and IAC meetings which are scheduled for October 3-5, the VTF will meet to take stock of where we are and ensure a proper presentation to the GB and IAC.
GOI Plan Grant disbursal
The GOI grant for the financial year 2015-2016 will amount to Rs 15 crore. From this amount, as per the request of the Governing Board, an amount of Rs 4 crore has been set aside for the creation of low-cost, sustainable housing.
At the request of the Under Secretary, Auroville Foundation, we have constituted a GOI Plan Grant Subgroup which, as specified in Standing Order # 7, takes decisions on the allocation of GOI grants jointly with the Under-Secretary, and ensures that utilization certificates are issued in time, so as not to endanger further grants. Based on their competence and knowledge of the matter and the fact that they do not represent the interest of any of the grantees (Bharat Nivas, SAIIER, TDC or NESS), we have appointed Michael Tait, Hemant and Rathinam to be part of this GOI Grant Subgroup along with Ranjith and Carel on behalf of the Working Committee.
The sub-group’s first immediate task is to ensure that all utilization certificates for 14/15 are submitted, so as not to endanger receiving the grants for 15/16. The Working Committee has meanwhile asked all the grantees who have not yet submitted their UCs to do so immediately. The subgroup together with the Under Secretary met on June 18, to disburse the first installment of the GOI Plan Grant 2015-16 of Rs 2 crore Capital and Rs 50 lakh General. The following disbursement was agreed upon (in lakhs):
Beneficiary Capital (in lakhs) General (in lakhs) SAIIER 57 14 Bharat Nivas 35 13 TDC 98 10 Working Committee 0 3 NESS 0 5 Network Centre 10 0 Auroville Foundation 0 5 TOTAL 200 50
The beneficiaries have been requested for detailed estimates and a spending timeline for each activity. The monitoring and tracking of the grant will be done by the Unity Fund, in such a way that every 2 weeks the members of the subgroup, the beneficiaries and the activity-executives will receive an overview of the total amount allocated, the total amount spent, the amount still to be spent and the period in which this amount has to be spent. The allocated amounts need to be spent by July 31st and UC's need to be submitted by that date.
After this meeting the Under-Secretary has, however, only disbursed 1.45 crore and not the full amount of 2.45 crore, keeping 1 crore in the AV Foundation account for later disbursement. This matter is under discussion.
Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act
The Governing Board, in its 46th meeting held in March, directed the Working Committee to implement the provisions of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act 2013 in Auroville. The Board emphasised that Auroville must take the lead in implementing these procedures effectively with their expertise.
Sindhuja on behalf of the Auroville Council and Carel on behalf of the Working Committee discussed the matter on June 12th with senior lawyer Sriram Panchu. Sriram concurred that Auroville should have one internal complaints committee which deals with all matters of sexual harassment in Auroville, as specified in the Act, and advised that it be setup by the Governing Board. This means that the Governing Board, by Standing Order, will create this Committee, with members proposed by the Working Committee.
The matter was further discussed by the Working Committee and Auroville Council. There was unanimous agreement that the Internal Compliant Committee, to be constituted under this Act, should not only deal with the issues of sexual harassment as specified in the Act, but also with issues of domestic violence not specified in the Act. This will need the approval of the Residents of Auroville.
The Auroville Council and Working Committee also discussed the constitution of the Internal Complaints Committee to be set-up under the Act. We jointly propose the following names: Niva (Koodam/Realisation), Anbu (AVAG), Srijita (MM Nursery), Bridget (Pitanga, Luminosity), Anandamayi (Security, Madhuca), Jayendra (Djaima), Yuval (Utility). The members hold office for a period of 3 years.
A brief extract of this Act is as below. A pdf copy of the Act and its Rules has been published on the Auronet.
We request all community members to give their feedback on the proposed candidates for the Internal Review Committee and for the extension of its work to include issues of domestic violence.
In case no substantial negative feedback is received, we will bring the matter to the Chairman of the Auroville Foundation for the passing of the Standing Order.
Closure Abri - Forecomers - Ravena road?
A few incidents of assault and robbery have happened on the Ravena - Forecomers - Abri road. We have received a suggestion that the check-post near Ravena and Pondy Ville resort, which offers a short cut to Muthialpet, should be closed, perhaps to start with only in the evening hours. We have asked all those involved for their views on this suggestion and would also welcome the views of the community.
Volunteers issues
The Working Committee maintains the contacts with the Regional Registration Officer, Pondicherry and the Foreigners Regional Registration Officer, Chennai. Regarding volunteers, we were informed:
- Those holding tourist visa cannot volunteer in Auroville or anywhere else in India.
- Volunteers, interns and students need an Entry Visa.
- Volunteering is restricted to Auroville Services.
- Volunteering in AV Commercial units is still a topic of consideration at the FRRO, Chennai.
- Students who come with a Student Visa issued at the recommendation of an Indian university can only volunteer in Auroville if this volunteering is part of the curriculum, e.g. has been explicitly authorized by that Indian university in writing.
The Working Committee is in discussion with the RRO to find a solution.
The Working Committee is not involved in the policy about what benefits Auroville gives to volunteers.
New Entry Visas
We have been informed that some Indian embassies abroad do not issue 5-year Entry Visa as recommended by the Auroville Foundation, but only Entry Visa for lesser periods of time. We have proposed to the Indian authorities that in these cases the RRO, Pondicherry, may issue stay visa and residential permits for the period as recommended by the Auroville Foundation.
Visa renewals
The Working Committee issues recommendations to the Secretary for the extension of Stay Visa and Residential Permits. In all these cases we ask the person how often and for how long a person has been staying out of Auroville. Where applicable, we recommend the granting of extensions for five year periods. However, if a person has been out of station for months on end, and says that this will continue, we may decide to recommend extensions for shorter periods.
Cleaning up the Register of Residents and the Master List
At the request of the Under-Secretary, and in cooperation with the office of the Secretary, which maintains the Register of Residents, and the Residents’ Service, which maintains the Master List, we have compiled a list of people who have left Auroville more than five years ago. This list has been published on the Auronet https://www.auroville.org.in/article/49202. It is the intention that the names of the people on this list will be moved to a separate Register of Left Auroville Residents. The community is invited to go through our list and inform us in case a person’s name should not be moved to the Register of Left Auroville Residents.
Police Outpost
In our report over the month of May we mentioned that, at the request of the Under-Secretary Auroville Foundation, the Working Committee, in consultation with the Land Board and the TDC, was in the process of identifying a piece of land along the main road somewhere between the East Coast Road and the Service Area which could be used for a police outpost, to facilitate police patrolling around Auroville.
This plot has been identified as next to the saw mill, opposite Maha Travels, at the outer border of the greenbelt. The plan is to provide a container with windows, doors and a bathroom to the police, to see if this facility would be sufficient. We request the community to send us its views.
Post office shifting
The Working Committee, together with the Under Secretary, is following up on a suggestion of Mr. Bala Baskar that the Auroville Post Office moves into the telephone exchange building which is located at the junction of the tar road and the dirt road leading to Matrimandir.
Vehicle passes
In our report on the month of February we informed the community that the Under-Secretary of the Auroville Foundation proposes to issue stickers for cars owned by Aurovilians and Auroville units for easy access to Auroville, so that the guards will know who to allow in. This would also give an indication about the number of cars owned by Aurovilians / Auroville units. We asked for suggestions on this topic.
Four responses were received: three welcomed the proposal yet felt it was not sufficient. Feedback suggested that we need to raise awareness about the growing number of individual cars and its consequences for the community, children, cyclists, and pedestrians; divert some of the finance going in this direction into building a more effective public transport system for all; make the issuing of the stickers conditional (license, insurance, vehicle well maintained, responsible driver and a hefty road tax) which would imply the setting up of an Auroville RTO; offer other stickers which could say: 1) “We drive at Auroville speed - max. 25 km/hour"; 2) “We support Auroville’s community transport”; or encourage sticker holder to make a voluntary donation (ideally monthly, even if modest) towards ACT.
We also recall that in response to a petition on AuroNet posted by Chandresh on Sep 23, 2014, 77% of the 153 respondents agree that "It is urgent to do something about the growing trend of private car ownership in Auroville."
It is proposed that stickers will be free for all Aurovilians, Newcomers, Friends of Auroville, and Auroville employees. A fee could be collected from commercial vehicles such as taxis, where the fees for taxis operated by Auroville units could be lower than those from taxis from non-Auroville taxi services.
We once again invite the community to give its views. If necessary, the matter can be discussed in a General Meeting.
Complaints against Aurovilians
We regularly receive complaints about the behavior of one or more Aurovilians, which we try to resolve. Of late, however, we have noted that the tone of some of these complaints is not only unpleasant but often vindictive and that some complainers have gone as far as creating a website to post their accusations. We believe that this poisons the Auroville atmosphere and damages Auroville’s reputation.
Sri Aurobindo wrote a letter to a disciple on the need of psychic self-control in the midst of discussions. We believe that his words also apply to postings on the intranet or to emails. We have taken the liberty to add to his words accordingly [in square brackets.]
- Not to allow the impulse of speech to assert itself too much or say anything without reflection, but to speak [write] always with a conscious control and only what is necessary and helpful.
- To avoid all debate, dispute or too animated discussion and simply say [write] what has to be said and leave it there.
- There should also be no insistence that you are right and the others wrong, but what is said [written] should only be thrown in as a contribution to the consideration of the truth of the matter.
- To keep the tone of speech [writing] and the wording very quiet and calm and uninsistent.
- Not to mind at all if others are heated and dispute, but remain quiet and undisturbed and yourself speak [write] only what can help things to be smooth again.
- If there is gossip about others and harsh criticism (especially about sadhaks/spiritual aspirants), not to join − for these things are helpful in no way and only lower the consciousness from its higher level.
- To avoid all that would hurt or wound others.
The Working Committee proposes that those in dispute meet together, in the presence of a mediator, to discuss the issues and try to find common grounds of agreement. If the accusations are correct, the parties could agree on some kind of redress which might include a public apology or the payment of a sum considered appropriate. If the accusations are found to be incorrect, the complainers should redress their mistakes and issue a public apology. The matter should end with the publication of a report in the News and Notes stating how the matter is resolved and what type of redress, if any, has been agreed upon. Once the redress action has been done, the matter should be considered as closed. This means that the complaints can no longer be raised in any public forum and that the person against whom the complaint was lodged can qualify to be a member of working groups.
This process might also be used to settle some long-standing issues, for example those that were considered ‘non-negotiable’ by the Temporary Feedback Review Committee when judging eligibility for the Working Committee, and deciding that some people were not eligible for participating.
Windarra
We had a very constructive meeting with members of the Farm Group which opened the doors to a better mutual understanding and a collaborative way to implement the arbitration’s decision in the Windarra issue. The Farm Group, even though disagreeing with aspects of the arbitration decision, has nevertheless agreed to respect it and agreed to delegate three of its members to help the Implementation Group implementing the arbitration decision. The implementation is ongoing.
Other matters
The Working Committee is also involved in the following topics, which are still on-going and not yet concluded:
- TDC restructuring
- Preparing for the 50th anniversary celebrations.
- Trademark protection of the name of Auroville
- Special Guests Coordination (jointly with the MM Access Team)
- Aurovilians not living in and working for Auroville (jointly with the FAMC)
- Aspiration Sports Ground
- Sludge Disposal
- Mailand Trust (jointly with the FAMC)
- Rayapettei Asset (jointly with the FAMC)
- Auroville Health Services
- Eco Service
~ The Working Committee
(Angela, Carel, Elisa, Eric, Mandakini, Manohar, Ranjith)