Residents Assembly Service (RAS)

RAS is responsible for announcing and organising the Residents’ Assembly meetings whenever they are called for, overseeing their facilitation, organising voting where necessary, keeping minutes & recording the RA’s decisions, and communicating them to AV residents & Foundation. 

Located at Town Hall.

E-mail raservice@auroville.org.in

Mandate Of The The Residents’ Assembly Service As Agreed Upon By The Residents' Assembly On The 13 Of August 2007

The tasks and responsibilities of the Residents’ Assembly Service will be:

1)     To call meetings of the Residents’ Assembly

a.      either at the request of the Working Committee; or

b.      at the request of a recognised working group; or

c.      at the request of at least 60 residents.

2)     To ensure that meetings of the Residents’ Assembly are called with a clear Agenda stating the purpose of the meeting, and the decision(s) to be arrived at.

3)     To publish the Agenda of a meeting of the Residents’ Assembly in the News & Notes, on AVnet and on the massbulletin of the community email service.

4)     To ensure that there will be a minimum period of 2 weeks between the date of the publication of Agenda of the meeting of the Residents’ Assembly in the News & Notes and the date of the meeting. 
Only in emergencies, as assessed by the Working Committee, will the Residents’ Assembly Service call a meeting at a date demanded by the Working Committee.

5)     To ensure the chairing of meetings of the Residents’ Assembly by

a.      a member of the Residents’ Assembly Service itself; or

b.      a member of the Residents’ Assembly appointed by the Residents’ Assembly Service; or

c.      a member of the Residents’ Assembly Service together with a member of the Residents’ Assembly appointed by the Residents’ Assembly Service.

6)     To ensure that each resident of Auroville can vote on a proposal as outlined in the Agenda:

a.      In writing: via email or through a signed form sent to the Residents’ Assembly Service indicating the name of the person and the vote.

b.      In person: by attending the meeting of the Residents’ Assembly and filling a form distributed by the Residents’ Assembly Service in the meeting.

7)     Assisted by three impartial Aurovilians as selected by the Residents’ Assembly Service:

a.      To count all votes cast in the meeting and submitted in writing

b.      To check if a person who has submitted a vote (in writing or in the meeting of the Residents’ Assembly) is a resident of Auroville

d.      To compile the voting statements pertaining to a particular decision of the Residents’ Assembly in alphabetical order of names of the residents and ensure that the voting records are properly archived.

8)     To announce in the News & Notes, on AVnet and on the massbulletin of the community email service

a.     If at least 10% of the Residents, constituting the quorum, have brought out a valid vote;

b.     The totals of all votes cast in writing and in the meeting of the Residents’ Assembly in favour and against a proposal.

c.      If a proposal has been accepted by the Residents’ Assembly, when a minimum of 50% of the votes has been cast is in favour of the proposal

If possible, these announcements will already be made in the meeting of the Residents’ Assembly itself.

9)     To ensure that all meetings of the Residents’ Assembly are recorded and that such recordings are properly archived.

10) To make the minutes of the meetings of the Residents’ Assembly and to publish them in the News & Notes, the AVnet and on the mass bulletin of the community email service.

11) To communicate decisions of the Residents’ Assembly to the Working Committee for further communication to the Secretary and other authorities of the Auroville Foundation.

12) To allow a resident of Auroville to inspect whether his or her votes have been correctly entered into the voting records and get a copy of the recording of the meeting of the Residents’ Assembly at cost price to verify the accuracy of the minutes.