The Auroville Foundation Office has taken over the Auroville Archives*.
Unknown and unauthorised persons have taken over the archives of Auroville, it has many personal contributions, persons are unable to retrieve their personal archives and material.
An office order has been issued by the under secretary. this office order bypasses again the fundamentals of Auroville self governance, the Auroville Foundation Act 1988 and the Charter. The office order has no legal ground.
In this office oder the under secretary illegally appointed 3 new persons to be the managers of the Auroville Archives, including a non Aurovilian.
To understand what is an office order: https://standforaurovilleunity.com/blog/as-for-standing-orders/
*The Archives act as the repository for all important letters, documents, publications and other papers, photos, slides and audio/visual material pertaining to the concept, planning, inauguration and progressive development of Auroville over the years, with emphasis on the experimental nature of work done. All the collected material has to be protected against the heat, humidity, dust and insects by air-conditioning and humidity control in the present temporary habitat. Available data is also being converted into digital format.
The Auroville Archives house not only the written records of the conception, planning and developmental growth of the township but also material relating to:
- different solutions tried out to surmount the difficulties which have arisen over the years
- records of meetings among Aurovilians on different aspects of their attempts to find solutions
- papers on all the multifarious activities that have occurred over the years
- printed photographs, video records and thousands of photo slides
- records of original research done in different fields such as alternative energy, building design, low-cost housing, organic farming, development of organic pesticides and financial management, the latter with special emphasis on Mother’s directives regarding ‘no money exchange in Auroville’
The list is ‘endless’ and it was felt that all the records must be preserved to provide a base of research into the activities that have been undertaken – and will be undertaken – in this ‘living laboratory’, for posterity. Written, audio and photographic records are electronically stored in a database for permanent preservation.