Good points dant and Cynthia.  Just a couple of comments:

For a couple of years, if you wanted to join the ashram, you had to go to first live in a "pre-ashram" and then get sent to the "Ashram Novitiate Program" which, in 1974-1976 was associated with "The City of Love and Light" (COLL) in San Antonio, Texas.  And before you could be in the novitiate, you had to really have you act together.  No debts, approval by the cult leadership in your community, fill out skills questionnaires, etc.  The idea was that the ashram was not for everybody, it was for those who were lucky enough to qualify and be accepted, of course, by Rawat's "grace."  The really devoted, who didn't have worldly commitments (no kids, etc.), who were somewhat together were mostly allowed in, to completely surrender their lives and do what they were told, although it was clearly stated and implied that you really couldn't surrender completely to Prem Rawat (which he said was the very purpose of your life), if you weren't in the ashram..

Then, by about 1979, all pretense was dropped and the cult had an all-out campaign to get EVERYBODY who could to move into an ashram.  No more noviaite, and people were actually encouraged to get DIVORCED if they were married in order to move in.  The pressure was so great, that some premies abandoned their own kids, including people who are currently very high up in Elan Vital in the US.  The reason for this change was that in 1979, huge numbers of premies were being sent to Miami to work as slaves on Rawat's plane project and other projects that he wanted.  The ashrams, and the lucrative money cow they were, were being depleted.  Also, people with skills that were needed to give Rawat the expensive toys he wanted, could be better, and more easily, utlized if they were unattached and "surrendered" in the ashrams.

Also, keep in mind, that Rawat NEVER made any attempt to visit the ashrams, to find out who lived there, or made any attempt whatsoever to see how they were doing, or if they were being taken care of.   In fact, he sometimes ordered some pretty unsavory people to go to the ashrams and harass premies for not being devoted enough.  Rawat often seemed to be more irritated by the ashrams (and premies in general, really), than happy to have them.

Finally, when the big projects were over and Rawat didn't need as many slaves anymore, and because the ashram premies were now mostly in their 30s and would start having "needs," the ashrams wouldn't be such a cash cow for Rawat anymore, so he just whimsically decided to close them, stuck the ashram premies with any debts, and pretended that it was all just a temporary "experiment" all along, despite all his (many) statements and directives to the contrary for many years before..

The idea that the ashrams were a haven from drug use and that was their purpose is just a big lie.  Elan Vital put that up on their website for awhile, but they were so ridiculed that they took it down.  I don't know who wrote that, but I am sure it was done with the direct approval of Prem Rawat himself.  Lying seems to be a top-to-bottom characteristic at Elan Vital.