News & Notes 880:BCC narrative report, April – June 2021

News & Notes 880 24 July 2021

Entity::BCC narrative report: April – June 2021

Dear Community, The BCC would like to share with you a narrative report of issues addressed and decisions taken in the past 3 months, as a complement to our monthly report of income and expenses. We hope this can increase community-wide understanding of the economic issues affecting our community that fall within the BCC’s scope of work.

Donations

1. Individual donation: Auroville received a large contribution (Rs. 1,44,40,000), to the City Services budget, from a donor who regularly gives for land.
2. AVI-USA fundraising: In May, City Services received (Rs. 23,62,000) from a total of 147 donors who participated in a fundraising effort led by AVI-USA.

Service budgets

The BCC has not yet sent out any new budget request forms as the economic situation is so uncertain. Services are welcome to approach BCC for any required changes on a case-by-case basis. Approved increases in the period April - June ‘21:

1) Auroville Ambulance: The Auroville Ambulance team requested that the BCC approve a separate budget from Santé for AV Ambulance for more autonomous operations, and to increase it. The request was to increase the Maintenance budget from 1 FT and 2 Apprenticeship Maintenances to 2 FT and 2 HT Maintenances, and to increase their recurring budget from Rs. 11,000/month to Rs. 30,000/month.

• BCC and Santé approved the Auroville Ambulance team’s request to have a separate budget from Santé.
• A total of 2FT, 1HT and one on-going Apprenticeship Maintenance was approved.
• The recurring budget increase to a total of Rs. 30,000 monthly was approved, with the understanding that effective from May 2021, all emergency retrievals will be free of cost.
  Contributions will be requested for non-emergency trips only, and credited to the BCC (via a collection account). The following rates will apply:

For local non-emergency trips within Pondicherry area:

• Aurovilian/Newcomer: Rs. 2,000
• Volunteer/Intern/Employee: Rs. 3,000
• Guest: Rs. 4,000

For non-emergency trips to Chennai:

• Aurovilian/Newcomer: Rs.10,000
• Volunteer/Intern/Employee: Rs. 11,000
• Guest: Rs. 12,000

2) Auroville Safety and Security Team (AVSST): The AVSST approached the BCC for an increase of Rs. 49,759 in their recurring budget (towards wages increases, teas etc.), to a total of Rs. 5,31,959 monthly. This was approved.

3) Auroville Town Development Council (ATDC): The ATDC requested a significant increase in both their Maintenance and recurring budgets, explaining that other sources of funding that were financing these (individual contributions, GOI grant etc.) were drying up, and that these consisted of basic administrative expenditures that the Auroville community should support (as opposed to research studies, for example). In addition to the 5 FT Maintenances already allocated to the ATDC and used by members of the Interim team, they requested an additional 12.5 Maintenances for Aurovilians working in the ATDC office. They also requested an increase in their recurring budget from Rs. 67,000 to Rs. 2.2L per month. Given that the budget increases are only exceptionally allocated during this Covid time, and that the increase was so significant, the BCC held a joint meeting with the FAMC and ATDC team to discuss their request. The ATDC stated that their priority was Maintenances for the Aurovilians working in the ATDC office, who are currently supported by other sources. The BCC team is undertaking interviews with all those currently working in the ATDC to determine the roles and responsibilities, working hours, and current Maintenance needs as per our regular process.

4) Farm Group: The BCC approved an additional 2FT Maintenances and one Apprenticeship Maintenance for the Farm Group to be relooked in March ’22. An additional 2.5 Maintenances were freed up in the existing budget by shifting senior farmers who had been serving for many years under the PSS (Personal and Social Support) budget head or have serious health problems.

5) Health Fund: The Health Fund requested a half Maintenance and Rs. 3,000 recurring budget for administrative expenses, so that the funds received as Health Fund contributions can be used only for health related expenses as per the guidelines.

6) Puncture Service: A BCC subgroup (Inge and Enrica) had several meetings with the Puncture Service team to understand their way of functioning and their financial needs. We approved 1 additional maintenance request on top of the 2 already existing full time maintenance as well as a monthly recurring budget of Rs. 25,816 to give full financial support for 2 external workers and all running costs. The Puncture service is herewith a service fully supported from the City Service budget to give free service to Aurovilians and newcomers.

Maintenances

1) Adult CS Maintenance Increase: As of June 2021, all adult City Service Maintenances have been increased by 6%, and all components are transferred at the beginning of the month. See our Auronet post for details.

Care Package	Half Time	Full Time
Cash	-	3000	6000
Kind	-	1250	6750
Lunch	2050	2050	2050
Health Fund (HF)	500	500	500
In Kind Sheme (IKS)	1700	1700	1700
Total	4250	8500	17000

2) Updated Temporary Emergency Maintenance Guidelines: As of June 2021, Temporary Emergency Maintenances are available to any Aurovilian who chooses to volunteer at an existing activity, unit or service that has insufficient funds to support them with maintenance, and who is in financial need. See our Auronet post for details. As of June 1st Temporary Emergency Maintenances were disbursed to 61 adults (Rs. 6 L/month) and 26 children (Rs. 99,000/ month).

3) Bridging Maintenances: On March 31st, 2021 the Temporary Emergency Bridging Maintenance policy was dissolved as planned. The regular Bridging Maintenance policy is back into effect as of April 1st, 2021.

Non-recurring budget requests

1. Access to Matrimandir/VC Parking (on-going): Due to the extended Covid lockdown protocols VC Parking is still closed. BCC continues the same process of approving monthly expenses established since the first closure. Some communication with the Matrimandir team to share costs is on-going with the BCC support group.
2. AV Artists: Auroville Artists submitted a budget request of Rs. 2.25L for a total of 14 performances in the upcoming year. Rs. 1.5L was approved, to be disbursed only when the Covid guidelines will allow live performances.
3. CRIPA Repairs: The BCC approved Rs. 2.9L for an essential roof repair for the CRIPA building.
4. Darkali: BCC approved a Land Board request of Rs. 30,000 for a wall to be built to avoid encroachment in Darkali.
5. Farm Group Coordination Team (FGCT): In early June, a combination of factors negatively impacted the distribution of farm produce: lockdown, the temporary closure of Solar Kitchen, and a holiday break of the PTDC kitchen. The FGCT requested a guarantee of financial support (amounting to 1L over a period of 1 month) that they could use if needed to subsidise the price of Auroville farm produce in order to make it affordable to Auroville eateries that are currently buying from outside. This was seen as a positive opportunity to improve distribution channels for Auroville farm produce into the future. The amount of 1L was guaranteed for the month of June.
6. Film Festival: The Auroville Film Festival requested Rs. 51,000 to rent equipment. The BCC informed them to make a request to Auroville Artists, who had been allocated an annual budget for performances.
7. Land Board meeting room: The BCC approved a total of Rs. 1.16L for sound-proofing of the Land Board meeting room.
8. Pour Tous Water Tractor: The BCC approved Rs. 30,430, the total cost of the repair of the PTW tractor.
9. Road Service: The BCC agreed to the Road Service’s request of Rs. 80,000 to cover the salaries of its workers during the 2-week full lockdown, given that the service was unable to finance these.
10. Scholarship Fund: The BCC approved a Rs. 6L annual budget for the Scholarship Fund to disburse.
11. School Repairs: The BCC approved Rs. 8.8L for summer repairs of Auroville schools + Rs. 5.8L for Outreach Schools.
12. Sri Aurobindo 150th Anniversary: The BCC received a request for financial support from the Sri Aurobindo 150th Anniversary for events and human resources for this year-long programme. A subgroup of the BCC (Suryamayi, Mahi, Enrica) met with the team to better understand their plans, needs and other sources of funding. The BCC is expecting a more detailed request from the 150th team following this meeting.
13. Street lights repair: The BCC approved a request from the Auroville Safety and Security Team for a Rs. 1.5L budget for the repair and maintenance of Auroville’s street lights.
14. SAIIER Transport: The BCC approved Rs. 3.1L for fitness certificates, road taxes, and legally required CCTV cameras for school buses
15. Matrimandir celebration: Rs. 7,000 was approved for a flower decoration for the April 24th offering.

Community-at-large issues

1) Update on Solar Fund & Average Pooled Electricity Cost Proposals: A subgroup of the BCC (Mahi, Margarita, Suryamayi) completed its review of two proposals brought to the BCC and FAMC by Martin and Toine of Auroville Consulting:

• The “Average Pooled Electrical Cost” (APEC) proposal, to implement single electricity costing for every Auroville electrical service connection point, independent of the type of connection (LT or HT), and potentially of the source (TNEB, Solar, or Wind).
• The Solar Fund proposal, to use part of the Auroville Foundation’s financial capital to invest in additional solar energy capacity.

This review was based on a series of meetings between BCC members and members of Auroville Consulting, AVES, Varuna, Sunlit Future, the former FAMC, and members of Auroville’s Investment Committee. Based on the subgroup’s report, the BCC and FAMC could not endorse the APEC proposal. While it was recognized that the proposal has positive vision elements, there were too many foreseeable negative practical repercussions raised in meetings with other stakeholders.

The Solar Fund proposal was explored with members of the Investment Committee, who found that while it was a good investment proposal, it could not be carried out as designed in the Auroville context given that only loans can be given from Auroville’s financial assets, as these are not ‘undesignated’ but represent the reserves of units, funds designated for specific projects, etc.

However, it was proposed that advances could be made to accountable project holders for solar installations, repayable with the avoided electricity costs (which for many Services are funded by the BCC). This has already been successfully undertaken by Unity Pavilion in collaboration with Sunlit Future.

It was also recommended by several stakeholders to explore CSR funding for increasing Auroville’s solar energy capacity.

The full subgroup report is available with BCC for those who wish to consult it.

Management of Services

1. ACARAT (update): In our previous report, we shared that the BCC had proposed to the FAMC that the funds and assets database project ACARAT, developed with GOI funds by the previous FAMC team, be registered as a City Service activity with an on-going City Services budget as this represents a valuable community resource. The FAMC decided to retain ACARAT as a project under the FAMC.
2. AV Arts Service: In May ‘21, the FAMC approached the BCC with a request to form a joint subgroup to undertake a pilot study with Auroville Arts Service to explore the possibility of of new contribution policy for hybrid units such as AV Arts Service, that have both a service and income-generating aspect. In the past and present it has been sought to split such hybrids into 2 entities to maintain clarity, but this is not always possible. AV Arts Service agreed to participate in this pilot project, which is currently in a preliminary stage of brainstorming.
3. Bharat Nivas (update): reached to BCC for more support. It is in the process.
4. City Services Unit: A subgroup of the BCC and FAMC (Danny, Rathinam, Angelo) are exploring the possibility of opening a City Services unit within which to register all City Services, and channel City Services income. They have also met with the Prosperity team who are reflecting on the same topic.
5. Guest Registration & Accommodation Service: As of May ‘21, the Guest Registration and Accommodation Service, which ensures that guests are legally registered, is receiving a budget under its own budget head, rather than under the GFCG (Guest Facilities Coordination Group) budget head. The recurring budget is Rs. 14,200 monthly towards office expenses.
6. N&N: Swaha, editor of N&N, had to suddenly leave Auroville for personal reasons in June. As the N&N is a City Service, the existing BCC subgroup to N&N (Hans and Suryamayi) stepped in to help form a new team. This is in process.
7. Pour Tous Water (on-going topic): In our last report, we published that the Service Trust had agreed to register Pour Tous Water (PTW) as a service unit. However, they were unsuccessful in appointing new executives, and informed the BCC that they would therefore not be able to register it. The BCC is following up and the BCC office is continuing to oversee the PTW accounts.
8. Solar Kitchen (ongoing topic): In early May, the Solar Kitchen executives wrote to BCC and FAMC sharing that the Solar Kitchen would reach a substantial minus at the end of May, and asking if financial support for the Solar Kitchen could be provided or if the Solar Kitchen ought to close temporarily. Members of the BCC and FAMC, later joined by members of the Working Committee, had tried for almost a year to reach an agreement on how to improve the economic situation at Solar Kitchen, while it still had substantial reserves (see previous BCC Narrative reports for details). The insolvency of the Solar Kitchen being a risk to the City Services budget, it was decided to temporarily close the Solar Kitchen as of June 1st. (For this reason, the FAMC had shared with the Solar Kitchen executives and the community that it was not appropriate to engage in fundraising efforts at this moment, as this did not really address or resolve the underlying issues with the functioning of the Solar Kitchen).
   The existing joint task group of BCC, FAMC and WCom members collaborated on the various aspects involved in the temporary closure of the Solar Kitchen:

• The BCC is disbursing 13 Full Time equivalent Temporary Emergency Maintenances for all of the Aurovilians working at Solar Kitchen
• All of the Solar Kitchen employees have been retrenched.
• On-going expenses of the Solar Kitchen asset (such as compound maintenance) are being covered by City Services.
• An asset and stock registry has been obtained.
• Other eateries who could provide lunch scheme rate lunches were identified and shared with community members, and many last minute data entries were done to make it possible for people to switch.
• The Solar Kitchen executives agreed to resign; this is pending an investigation into allegations made by Aurovilians working at Solar Kitchen. In the meantime they have been assisting with the closure.
• The subgroup is working on outlining a vision for the future of the Solar Kitchen with management guidelines and operational parameters, to be shared with the community with a call for new team members.

The BCC extends its thanks to the whole Solar Kitchen team for their long service, and to Koodam for facilitation support in the transition period.

Meetings with other groups/services

1. ATDC (joint meet with FAMC): The BCC invited ATDC to a joint meeting with the FAMC to discuss a significant budget request increase. See “Service Budgets” section above for details.
2. Citizens’ Assembly: The BCC met with the Citizens’ Assembly team to hear a presentation of their pilot collective decision-making process on water. Overall it was felt that the process was valuable for Auroville, and that the BCC could look at how to support future processes and the implementation of the outcomes of the pilot process on water.
3. Farm Group (on-going): A subgroup of the BCC (Inge, Hans, Suryamayi) has continued meeting with the new Farm Group Coordination Team, and FoodLink, to reflect together on new ways for BCC to support the farms in providing sustenance for the community. So far additional Maintenances have been approved (see “Service Budgets” above), and a guarantee of financial support towards subsidising farm produce if needed to assist distribution during lockdown (see “Non-recurring budget requests” above). Brainstorming on other forms of long-term support is on-going.
4. HR Hub: In May ‘21, the BCC invited the HR Hub team to explore whether they could a) support Aurovilians currently on a Bridging Maintenance to find new jobs and b) serve as a collection point for current volunteering opportunities at Auroville units and services, for community members who wish to apply for a Temporary Emergency Maintenance but are not yet engaged anywhere. The HR Hub team agreed to support both aspects. They also commented that many units are looking for highly skilled people while many applicants have very basic skills, and that those units and services who receive community members with a Temporary Emergency Maintenance provided by the BCC could be encouraged to provide them with some training. We hope this will create new pathways for those community members looking for long-term work opportunities in Auroville.
5. Mattram: In May ‘21, the BCC invited Mattram to see how we can support each other in supporting Aurovilians during this difficult lockdown period. The BCC wanted Mattram to be well-informed of the economic support available to Aurovilians so that they could communicate these with community members who reach out to Mattram for support, or know they could refer them to BCC. Mattram shared that so far, people they met with already had some kind of financial support from BCC, and we were happy to know people were informed about and availing of this. Mattram also invited BCC to refer those first approaching BCC for financial support to Mattram if we come to know of people in need of emotional and psychological support. BCC let Mattram know to reach out to us if more financial support is needed to support the Mattram team in this difficult time.
6. Santé Coordination Team and Working Committee Covid response: In May ‘21, the BCC met with members of the Santé Coordination team and WCom to discuss urgent budgetary needs for the Covid response given the surge of Covid positive cases in Auroville. The WCom and Santé Coordination team members explained that the these were:

• Equipping the Sharanam guesthouse at Bharat Nivas so that it could operate as a facility where patients with Covid symptoms could be cared for, especially given the shortage of beds in surrounding hospitals. In addition to a monthly budget of Rs. 29,000 for the running costs of Sharanam, there was an additional need of two to four AC units for rooms that would host any Aurovilians with more than mild symptoms. The Bharat Nivas team later explained that additional funding would be required to upgrade the electrical infrastructure of the facility to allow for this AC installation.
• Purchasing oxygen cylinders and medicine
• Salaries for professional nurses if needed, and travel expenses (i.e. petrol) for volunteers.

In addition, it was proposed that an emergency amount of 1 lakh be kept available on the Covid account at all times to be available in case of emergency.

The WCom and Santé Coordination team also shared that they had previously applied for an emergency relief grant circulated by the FWE (Foundation for World Education, a regular donor to Auroville), and that while it had not been granted at the time (January ‘21), the FWE had invited them to re-apply if needed.

The BCC agreed to approve 2 lakhs for the immediate anticipated costs of upgrading the Sharanam facility with 2 AC units, purchasing oxygen and other medical equipment, and travel expenses of AV medical personnel / volunteers supporting Covid-19 affected community members. The request to maintain 1 lakh available in the Covid account for emergency access was also agreed to. It was agreed that a report of the utilisation of funds for the Covid emergency would be published monthly by the Santé Coordination team to keep all informed of what is being done and the costs associated with this, and that any leftover funds would be refunded to City Services.

Covid Test Refunds: On the request of the Santé Coordination Team and Working Committee, the BCC approved a rolling budget for the refunds of Covid tests, which are not covered by the Health Fund. See Auronet post for details.

Internal BCC team updates

1. MERA: BCC members Rathinam and Suryamayi were appointed by the FAMC as executives of MERA – Management of Emergency Responses in Auroville – for a period of one year, from June 2021 - June 2022. MERA is a unit under the Health and Healing Trust set up as a channel for receiving funds for emergency responses to any crisis. Last year Rathinam and Mahi from the BCC were executives.
2. New Members: As of June 2021, four community members were newly selected by the FAMC to join the BCC team: Aurosugan, Fabien, Mathan and Cristina. These were selected following a call to the community to fill the vacant BCC memberships, with input from current members regarding the profiles (skills & qualities) needed to optimally complete the team.
3. In-house accounting of City Services (update): As of June 2021, BCC has engaged Arya Accounting to carry out the book-keeping of all City Services (services registered directly under BCC and not a Trust).
4. Informational website on City Services budget: A subgroup of the BCC (BCC member Suryamayi, and resource person Avinash) are working on an informational online platform to communicate the overall income and disbursements of City Services in an accessible way.
5. Team Building session with Elisa: The BCC had our second team building session facilitated by Elisa in April 2021. This session focussed (1) on assessing our team’s work in relationship with the BCC Mandate, and identifying areas of improvement, (2) on improving and defining processes around subgroup work.

~ BCC