ISSUE 12 | DECEMBER 2019
area and includes farms and
forestries, a botanical garden,
seed bank, medicinal and
herbal plants, water
catchment bunds, and some
communities.
Legal status and
government
Prior to 1980, the Sri
Aurobindo Society,
Pudducherry, legally owned all
of the city's assets. In 1980, the
Government of India passed
the Auroville Emergency
Provision Act 1980, under
which it took over the city's
management. The change
was initiated when after Mirra
Alfassa's death in 1973, serious
fissures in the day to day
management developed
between the Society and the
city's residents. The residents
appealed to Indira Gandhi,
BIKERS CLUB ® | MAGAZINE | PAGE 32
then Prime Minister of India
for an intervention. The
Society challenged the
Government's action in the
Supreme Court of India. The
final verdict upheld the
constitutional validity of the
government's action and
intervention.
In 1988, after the verdict, a
need was felt to make a
lasting arrangement for the
long term management of
Auroville. The city's
representatives along with
Dr.Kireet Joshi, then
Educational Advisor to the
Union government met for
consultations with the then
Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi.
Later that year, the Auroville
Foundation Act 1988, was
passed by the Indian
Parliament. The Act stipulated
the vesting of all movable and
immovable assets of the city
in a foundation,
known as Auroville Foundation and
the creation of a three-tier
governing system: the Governing
Board; the Residents' Assembly and
the Auroville International Advisory
Council. The highest authority is the
Governing Board selected by the
Government of India. It consists of
seven prominent Indians in the field
of education, culture, environment
and social service. The second
authority is the International
Advisory Council whose five
members are also selected by the
Government. These are chosen
from people who have rendered
valuable service to humanity in the
areas of Auroville's ideals. The
Resident's Assembly consists of all
official residents of the city.
The Auroville Foundation, headed
by a chairman, is an autonomous
body under the Ministry of Human
Resource Development. The HRD
ministry appoints the seven
members