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Working Committee report [Period June 3rd – July 5th, 2008] In view of the holidays some members were not present:’ The members are: Angela, Carel, Dhanapal, Hemant, Hilde, Raman and Sanjeev. ‘ 1)”’ Visit Governing Board member Mr. Ajoy Bagchi Mr. Ajoy Bagchi paid a 3-day visit to Auroville. During this visit he participated in a one-day seminar on Income tax and possibilities of the restructuring of the Auroville Foundation (see point 6 below); and interacted with the Working Committee, the OutreachMedia group and members of L’Avenir d’Auroville and met with individual Aurovilians. ‘ 2)”’ Next meeting of the Governing Board and International Advisory Council. The next meeting of the Governing Board and International Advisory Council are scheduled for July 24-27. These will be the last meetings of this Board and Council, as the term of office of their members ends in September. ‘ 3)”’ New Governing Board and International Advisory Council. The Working Committee has sent a letter to the Minister of Human Resource Development recommending the reappointment of the Chairman and members of the Governing Board and International Advisory Council. ‘ 4)”’ Visa and Residential Permits. On June 20th Carel paid a visit to the Joint Secretary Foreigners, Ministry of Home Affairs in New Delhi, to discuss pending visa and residential permit issues. He was asked to provide complete lists of all those who are staying in Auroville. a)”” for less than five years on 1- year visa with respectively 1,2,3,4,and 5 extensions b)”” for less than five years on 5-year visa c)”” for more than five years on 1-year visa d)”” for more than five years on 5-year visa This visit was followed up by a visit of the Secretary of the Auroville Foundation to the Joint Secretary Foreigners on June 25th. As a result of these visits we have been informed that Joint Secretary has accepted an invitation to visit Auroville in September and that the issue of those who have received more than 3 extensions on a 1-year entry visa will be kept pending till a solution to the problem has been found. This means that, until a final directive is issued by the Home Ministry, nobody will be asked to leave. The RRO, Pondicherry, has meanwhile verbally informed that it will give 5-year residential permit extensions to all those who have been living in Auroville for a consecutive period of 5 years or longer. ‘ 5)”’ Aurovilians not wanted in India We have heard from the Ministry of Home Affairs that they have taken a negative decision in the cases of all six Aurovilians who are being refused entry into India (Boris, Dima, Chris, Stuart C., Stuart L., Roy). On June 20th, Carel was told that a negative decision on three of the six persons had been taken, though names were not given. On June 25th, Mr. Ramaswamy, was informed that the negative decision had been extended to all six persons. The reason given is that the security information on all six persons is negative. We have not been informed about the contents of this security information. The appeal verdict of the Chennai High Court in favour of Boris, Dima and Chris, has evidently not played a role of importance in the Home Ministry’s considerations. ‘ 6) Tax and restructuring issues A one-day seminar took place with Auroville’s chartered accountants Mr. Manuel Thomas, Mr. Suresh Kothari, Mr. Vijay Modi, Mr. Lalit Modi, Mr. Prababakaran, Mr. Natarajan and Mr. Ravi Shankar; Governing Board member Mr. Ajoy Bagchi; AV Foundation Secretary Mr. Ramaswamy, and FAO Mr. Srinivasamurthy; members of the Working Committee; executives of the Unity Fund and Financial Service and representatives of the ABC. Topics discussed were: a)”” Income tax issues: The Government of India has enacted a new law according to which from the present financial year 2008-2009 onwards charitable organisations have to pay tax over their commercial income. This includes the Auroville Foundation. The possibility was studied to obtain an exemption. b)”” Restructuring the activities of the Auroville Foundation. The possibility to restructure the commercial and non-commercial activities of the Auroville Foundation either by way of section 25 companies or through societies or trusts or a combination of these was discussed on the basis of a legal opinion obtained from a Chennai lawyer Mr. Krishna Srinivasan. The Working Committee was asked to initiate a proposal for further discussion. c)”” Unity Fund co-signing. The mode of functioning of the UF has still not been decided by, even though the Fund was created on 31-05-2006. Mr. Manuel Thomas and Mr. Suresh Kothari have started to work on a handbook for financial procedure, but until the IT and restructuring questions are settled, the work on the handbook work cannot well proceed. Apart from obtaining transparency and uniformity of financial procedures, the handbook should also outline the decision-making processes of the Unity Fund, so that there will be no need for a double signatory as the executives will only execute the decisions of the policy makers. ‘ 6)”’ BBC follow-up. a)”” The complaint to be made to the Editorial Complaints Unit of the BBC is being prepared together with lawyers Sriram Panchu and Aparna Vasu with input from AVI UK and IAC Chairman Sir Mark Tully. It will be sent this week. b)”” The Secretary has agreed to send a letter of complaint re the BBC film to Minister of Information and Broadcasting, and to the Indian High Commission UK and UK High commission in Delhi as the required permission for making the film was not given. ‘ 7)”’ Tulir One member of the Working Committee and three members of Village Action met with representatives of the Chennai based NGO Tulir, a Centre for the prevention and healing of Child Sex Abuse (CSA). The meeting focused on the question of what strategies Auroville should adopt for developing greater awareness and managing better the CSA problem in our local area, as Auroville’s international environment and attractiveness could see the area facing increasing problems with offenders, both foreigners and Indians. Tulir offered some suggestions and proposed that a group of about 10 Aurovilians participate in a 2-day awareness and capacity building workshop on CSA on August 1-2, followed by another group in autumn. The people who receive such training could eventually become trainers and resource people to further disseminate awareness, and develop strategies for better dealing with the issue. Awareness can also be carried into the bioregion via the Self-Help Groups (about 3000 village women and 1500 village men) organised by Village Action, PBRC, Palmyra. This approach was approved in a joint meeting of the Working Committee and Auroville Council; the FAMC has been asked to make a budget of Rs 20,000 available for the first workshop to cover the costs of the training, lodging and travel of the participants. ‘ 8)”’ Meeting with Repos community members The Working Committee had a meeting with the members of the Repos community and the executives of Bliss café to find a better arrangement for visiting Aurovilians and their guests and to protect the community. A solution is being worked out. ‘ 9)”’ Meeting on NC Boarding school The Secretary and the Working Committee had a joint meeting with André T., Babu and Mani to discuss issues related to New Creation Board School. A solution is being worked out. ‘ 10)”””””’ Entry Regulations A letter was received from the Secretary of the Auroville Foundation with a draft “Auroville Foundation Admission and Termination of Residents Regulations 2008”. We have studied this draft and concluded that it does not respond to the reality of Auroville for a number of reasons, which can be summarized as follows: a)”” The draft only regulates ‘residents’, e.g. people of 18 years and older whose name has been entered into the Register of Residents maintained by the Secretary in accordance with the Auroville Foundation Act. We believe that the objective of Regulations should be that they cover all people who come to live in Auroville, not only those who wish to settle in Auroville permanently as resident. b)”” The section of termination of residence in the draft only deals with forceful termination of residents. We believe that this section should also contain how a person can cease to live in Auroville on his or her own account. Moreover, it should also contain conditions on termination on other persons, not only residents, living in Auroville. c)”” The section on appeal in the proposed regulations is, in our view, contrary to the Auroville Foundation Act as it gives an appeal function to the Governing Board. In our view the appeal body should only consist of residents of Auroville. The Governing Board may have the power to refer a case to the appeal body. d)”” The proposed draft contains ‘conditions for residence’ some of which we consider not acceptable. We believe that the conditions for residence as specified by The Mother should suffice. We have sent the Secretary our drafts ‘Auroville Foundation Entry Regulations’ and ‘Auroville Admission and Review Policy’, (those that have been submitted to the Governing Board in January 2007 with minor modifications) with the request for his comments. We have further proposed that our draft ‘Auroville Foundation Entry Regulations’ may be approved by the Governing Board in its forthcoming meeting and submitted to the HRD Ministry for approval; and that the Board issue a Standing Order approving our ‘Auroville Foundation Entry Regulations’ and ‘Auroville Admission and Review Policy’ for immediate implementation. pending the HRD approval. ‘ 11)”””””’ Land Consolidation Committee As mentioned in our May 2008 report, by Standing Order no 2/2008 the Land Consolidation Committee consisting of a 7-member executive committee with the Secretary as convenor and coordinator was set-up. The tenure of the Executive Committee shall be three years from the date of notification of its composition by the Secretary. As per the order, the Working Committee, the Funds and Assets Management Committee and L’Avenir d’Auroville each nominate 2 representatives on the committee. These are: a)”” By the FAMC: Paul Blancheflower and Dhanapal b)”” By L’Avenir d’Auroville: Prashant and Jacques c)”” By the Working Committee: Andy and Raman We are still awaiting the notification of the composition the committee by the Secretary. 12)”””””’ Annual Report Auroville Foundation 2007- 2008. The Working Committee has requested a number of units to submit a report of their activities for the year 2007-2008. This report will be included in the Annual Report submitted to Parliament of India by the Auroville Foundation. ‘ 13)”””””’ Protecting Auroville lands. The issue of protecting (future) Auroville lands was discussed together with L’Avenir d’Auroville members Toby and Prashant, who had discussed the issue with the TN State Commissioner of Town & Country Planning (TCPO). ‘ 14)”””””’ Unauthorised usage of the name of Auroville At the request of the Working Committee, the Secretary of the Auroville Foundation has issued a notice to ‘The Harmony Auroville’ at Perimudaliarchavady to refrain from using the name of Auroville in its advertisements and email id to purchase flats on the ECR, as the name, ‘Auroville’ and its emblem are protected under the Emblem and Names (Prevention of Improper Use Act, 1950).