Conflicting narratives have made it difficult for concerned observers to grasp the dimensions and meaning of the multifaceted crisis that has overtaken Auroville. This report presents its essential elements and recommends a practical plan of action to resolve it.

To understand the nature of the crisis, it is necessary to understand the Auroville Foundation Act.

The Auroville Foundation Act was passed by the Indian Parliament on September 29, 1988, establishing the Auroville Foundation as an autonomous statutory body for the purpose of protecting, preserving, and advancing Auroville’s ideals as an international township dedicated to human unity and the evolution of consciousness based on the philosophy and teachings of Sri Aurobindo. The intent underpinning the Act, summarized in Chapter 3(21)(4)(a-b), is to ensure that

The Auroville Foundation consists of three governing authorities with interdependent responsibilities: a Residents’ Assembly, comprised of all registered adult inhabitants, which is responsible for Auroville’s daily management; a Governing Board, responsible for promoting the ideals of Auroville and “coordinat[ing] activities in consultation with the Residents’ Assembly for the purposes of cohesion and integration of Auroville;” and an International Advisory Council, responsible for advising the Governing Board on matters relating to Auroville’s development and management.

The Auroville Foundation Act established the three authorities as a checks-and-balance system with no one entity possessing overriding authority over the others. All three are intended to work together to advance Auroville’s mission through collaboration, consultation, and shared decision-making.

Governing Boards are appointed by the Indian Government every four years, most recently in 2021. The arrangement functioned in a balanced manner for more than 30 years. But on August 22, 2022, the Board’s Secretary submitted a filing with the Madras High Court that unilaterally and radically restated the roles of the Governing Board and Residents’ Assembly. It asserted that the community of Auroville did not have the right to help determine its future, govern itself, or have a voice in its development, as the Act intended. Auroville, it said, “is not a democratic assembly of residents claiming rights to self-rule.” Rather, its residents are simply “voluntary workers.”

Moreover, the present administration stated, “the entire lands [of Auroville], properties, and undertakings” do not, as the Auroville Charter states, belong “to humanity as a whole.” (Annexure A) Instead, “all Auroville assets vest with the central government, and the central government has delegated all its powers to the Foundation, which is in turn managed by the Governing Board.”

Therefore, it asserted, the Governing Board alone is the “Supreme Authority” of Auroville. These unprecedented claims, and the actions stemming from them over the past three and a half years, dramatically diverge from the letter, spirit, and intent of the Auroville Foundation Act.

They deviate profoundly from the teachings of Sri Aurobindo and the vision of the Mother,

Auroville’s founder. They repudiate the values and principles that Auroville has operated under for half a century, and overturn precedents of collaboration exemplified by previous government-appointed administrations for more than thirty years. (See pps 15-22)

Actions undertaken by those who advocate for this new interpretation of the Auroville Foundation Act have undermined long-standing achievements built up over more than half a century and threaten to cause lasting harm to the unique value Auroville represents to India and the world.

This report brings together events and information in a single brief that we hope will bring clarity to the facts of the situation, enable greater understanding, and spur constructive action. It encapsulates information in three sections that address the most essential aspects of the crisis:

• Governance and misgovernance relating to powers and functions of the three governing authorities established by the Auroville Foundation Act;
• Documented misuse of authority by the present administration in six key areas of governance, financial management, planning and development, communications, safety and security, and impact on local communities;
• A practical set of recommendations to resolve the crisis and set Auroville once again on a path to a positive future.

These recommendations involve all three governing authorities, including changes that the Auroville community itself needs to make in addressing well-known concerns about governance which emerged in the years before the takeover in 2021.

This report has been produced by the Auroville Global Fellowship, an independent network of more than fifty national and international supporters who have contributed to the world in diverse fields related to the evolutionary ideals of Auroville.

A subgroup of Fellows spent several months researching events and timelines, conducting a detailed review of more than 2,000 pages of reports, legal filings and rulings, newsletters, speeches, journals, presentations, financial reports, and other documents. Our review covered dozens of letters to the Governing Board from Auroville’s Working Committee of the Residents’ Assembly, Governing Board Minutes, and statements from individuals justifying the administration’s actions. We studied communications from International Advisory Council members to the Governing Board, and interviewed individuals who worked closely with both previous government-appointed administrations and the present one.

The administration that took over in 2021 maintains that its interpretation and implementation of the Auroville Foundation Act is opposed by only a handful of disaffected residents. That is incorrect. A large majority of residents and outside supporters have been alarmed by its assertions and do not support its actions. The administration has used a campaign of disinformation to create a fabricated version of reality to legitimize actions that contravene the Auroville Foundation Act and the community’s established procedures for participatory development.

As representatives of Auroville, friends in India and around the world, including members of Sri Aurobindo and Auroville centres and concerned members of numerous other organizations, we are deeply disturbed by the administration’s many violations of Auroville’s most fundamental principles; and by the way it has dishonoured the dharma itself – the ethical, moral, and cosmic law that India’s timeless wisdom tells us governs individual and societal behaviour and guides one toward righteousness and harmony.

We deeply value the Indian government’s understanding and support it has provided Auroville for more than half a century. Previous Governing Boards and the Government of India have positively contributed to Auroville’s development in innumerable ways, reinforcing Auroville’s deep roots in India as the Mother envisioned.

Today there is a pressing need to restore the principles of the Auroville Charter and the integrity of the Auroville Foundation Act so that this unparalleled endeavour dedicated to human unity and grounded in India’s spiritual tradition and the teachings of Sri Aurobindo, may be re-established on a positive path to the future. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi put it, Auroville has been and should continue to be a “beacon of hope” to humanity. Tragically, actions by the present administration have led it far from that goal.

It is therefore with a sense of the utmost urgency that our report calls upon the Government of India to prevent further damage and reverse the direction of the Auroville Foundation’s current administration so that Auroville can fulfill its purpose for India and the world in bringing about a brighter future for humankind.