ISSUE 12 | DECEMBER 2019
of the Governing Board and the
five members of the
International Advisory Council.
There is also a Secretary to the
Foundation, appointed by the
Government of India, who
resides and has an office with
supporting staff in auroville.
The Foundation currently owns
about half of the total land
required for the township. The
remaining lands are being
purchased whenever funds are
available.
Chairmen
Karan Singh - former Union
Minister, 1991
Dr. M.S. Swaminathan -
renowned agricultural
scientist.
Dr. Kireet Joshi - former
Special Educational Advisor
to the Government of India.
BIKERS CLUB ® | MAGAZINE | PAGE 33
Society and
population Surrounding
Villages
The township was originally
intended to house 50,000
residents. In the initial 20 years,
only about 400 individuals
from 20 countries resided in
the township. In the next 20
years, this number rose to
2,000 individuals from 40
countries. As of January 2018, it
has 2,814 residents (2,127 adults
and 687 children) from 54
countries with two-thirds from
India, France and Germany. The
community is divided up
into neighbourhoods with
Tamil, English, French and
Sanskrit names like Aspiration,
Arati, La Ferme, Auromodel
and Isaiambalam. Auroville works closely together
with the surrounding villages,
where mainly Tamil people
reside, via the Auroville Village
Action Trust under which many
different projects including the
villages fall. The biggest one
under the trust is the Auroville
Village Action Group (AVAG),
which has programs for
women's empowerment,
education and financial
support, and also sells its own
products in the name of AVAL,
Surya and Kudumbam as social
enterprise work. Other activities
falling under the trust are the
Life Education Center, Auroville
Industrial School, Mohanam
cultural centre, Auroville Health
Services, Deepam School for
handicapped children,
Thamarai community centre,