BCC can no longer operate as before – but remain committed to serve Auroville
In a Massbulletin shared with the community on 14th October, the RA BCC announced that they “no longer have any control or oversight over Auroville’s City Services budget” as their access to the Financial Services has been removed. This means that they are “are no longer able to access Auroville Service accounts or execute transfers for both services or individuals . This could have very concerning consequences for the financial stability of the Auroville community, as full control of the budgetary system is now in the hands of a small group of inexperienced people. These individuals have little knowledge and understanding of Auroville budgetary operations, and recognise the AVFO as the final authority, effectively denying the voice of the Residents’ Assembly.
Email from the BCC:
Dear Community,
We regret to inform you that the BCC (Budget Coordination Committee) can no longer operate as before. We no longer have any control or oversight over Auroville’s City Services budget.
As of October 13th, 2022, BCC team members no longer have access to the Financial Service system. This means that we have completely lost control over the setting up or changing of City Services Maintenances (adult and children), and are no longer able to access Auroville Service accounts or execute transfers for both services or individuals (for visa and passport refunds, for example).
We are deeply concerned about the future of Maintenance and budgetary support for Auroville individuals, services and employees. And we are also deeply concerned about the financial management and stability of Auroville as a community.
We have informed the RA WCom and RA FAMC of the situation. In the meantime, we remain available to the community. We will maintain office hours in the Council Meeting room in Town Hall on Tuesdays: 10:30AM – 12:00PM and 2:30PM – 3:30PM to answer any questions, hear your suggestions and concerns.
As a team, we are committed to continuing to explore possible developments and improvements related to the guidelines, management and review of the use of City Services funds towards supporting the realisation of Auroville’s ideals.
Your BCC members (Aurosugan, Danny, Enrica, Hans, Mahi, Rathinam, Sacha, Suryamayi, Verena)
——————————–
On the morning of 11th October, members of the RA BCC had arrived at their offices in Town Hall to discover that all of their computer equipment and some of their office furniture had been removed. All of these items had been purchased with City Services funds, and the approximate value of the appropriated assets amounts to around 3 lakhs.