Fake FAQs on WCom judgement.pdf

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Response to FAQs on the Working Committee of the Residents

Assembly

1. What is the Working Committee exactly and why so much noise over it?

● The Working Committee of the Residents’ Assembly is first and foremost merely a

body constituted by the Residents’ Assembly to assist the Residents’ Assembly to

discharge its functions, and as the case may be, the Governing Board also. The

Auroville Foundation Act (hereinafter referred to as the Act) under Section 20 is very

clear on the subject.

● Therefore it may be understood at the outset that the Working Committee does not

have any decision-making powers, it is merely a secretarial body to assist the

discharge of the functions of the two bodies with direct functions to perform.

● In March 2020, the Residents’ Assembly formed a Working Committee composed of

Anu, Arun, Chali, Hemant L., Partha, Sauro, Srimoyi. This Working Committee had a

three-year term of office.

2. What happened in May 2022 when some members were removed, and some were

“voted out”?

● In May 2022, due to some severe dysfunctionality issues within the team, owing to

three of the appointed members refusing to collaborate with the city development

endeavours as decided by the Governing Board, the Working Committee took an

internal decision to remove the dissenting three members by a majority vote. This

was permissible by the Participatory Working Groups 2022 (PWG 2022) document

which was ratified by the Residents Assembly under “Removal of members”. The

majority four, Anu, Arun, Partha and Srimoyi, also chose three interim members,

Joseba, Tine & Selvaraj, so that the work may continue unhindered.

Excerpt PWG 2022:

“Removal of Members during the term

To be Member of a working group implies effective participation, conscientious

presence and teamwork. Members who are not executing their work as assigned by

the group and/or turn out to be ill-matched with the team can – after all attempts of

integration have failed – be asked by the Working Group to step out.”

● Aggrieved, the removed three members - or the “breakaway group” - organised

general meetings in Auroville and attempted a “Residents’ Assembly Decision

Making Process” I.e. voting amongst Residents to remove the majority four who

were supportive of the decisions of the Governing Board to develop the city.

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● Further, the recent Madras High Court order dated 01.08.24 recognizes the authority

of the OSD as follows:

“52. On the other hand, the Register that has been submitted by the OSD at the

behest of R8, along with a tabulation of the various particulars relating to the

contents thereof, reveals a totally different picture with only 1861 members.

53. The OSD has been appointed in terms of the Section 15(3), in terms of which,

the Governing Board may appoint such other officers and employees as may be

necessary for the efficient performance of its functions. Section 17 sets out the

powers and functions of the Governing Board as follows [...]

55. In terms of Clause (d) of Section 17, it is the Governing Board which is vested

with the power of monitoring and review of the activities of Auroville and to

secure proper management of the property vested in the Foundation as well as

other properties of Auroville. Thus, it is the OSD who, as on date, is the proper

authority to oversee the functioning of the Foundation, as confirmed by the

interim orders granted by this Court. I would thus go by the status as confirmed by

the OSD.”

● In summary, yes, the OSD’s order to pause all decision making by the Residents’

Assembly until the RoR was updated was upheld by the court of law and till date

continues to be in effect.

4. The RoR updation - why was it required and what was the delay caused by?

● The RoR updation exercise was started in May 2022 as per the directions of the

Governing Board. Under Section 18, the Secretary is empowered to maintain the

● To be a Resident of Auroville, one must live and work in Auroville (minimum 6 hours

a day 6 days a week or 5 hours a day 7 days a week) as per the guidelines given by

The Mother. Apart from this, Residents have to adhere to the “Values guiding the

Collective life of Auroville” that all persons sign upon becoming accepted as

Residents before the signing of the B-form.

● Additionally foreign Residents must either live in Auroville on an OCI or on an Entry

X Visa specifically issued for the purpose of living and working in Auroville.

● A form to fill out was sent out to all Residents with some mandatory fields and some

non-mandatory fields.

● From the very beginning there was a section of Residents who refused to have

anything to do with this exercise and simply refused to fill out the form and provide

the basic necessary data.

● A door-to-door verification exercise of habitation, of confirmation of workplace and

documentation, was launched which also met with immense resistance from a

section of Residents.