Centre suspends foreign funding licence of Centre for Policy Research; think tank says will explore recourse

The Central government on Wednesday suspended the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) licence of public think-tank Centre for Policy Research (CPR) over violation of laws. In a letter to the think tank, the Ministry of Home Affairs said that its registration under the FCRA has been suspended for a period of 180 days over violation of laws. 

Founded in 1973, CPR has been involved in research with a focus on India’s 21st Century challenges. Meenakshi Gopinath, a political scientist who taught at Jawaharlal Nehru University, is its chairperson. Yamini Aiyar, daughter of senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar, is the President and Chief Executive of the Centre for Policy Research. In 2008, she founded the Accountability Initiative at CPR, which is credited with pioneering one of India’s largest expenditure tracking surveys for elementary education.

In reply to the notice, CPR on Wednesday said it would "explore all avenues of recourse". 

The CPR has been under the lens after the Income Tax department conducted surveys last year. The FCRA licence of CPR was last renewed in 2016 and was due for renewal in 2021.   

With the licence suspension, CPR will not be able to receive any new funds from abroad. The donors of CPR included the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the University of Pennsylvania, the World Resources Institute and Duke University.  

In an official note issued by CPR on Wednesday, the think tank said: “In September 2022, the Income tax department conducted I-T surveys at our premises. As part of the survey follow-up process, CPR has received several notices from the department. Following the due process, detailed and exhaustive responses have been submitted to the department. We are in complete compliance with the law and are routinely scrutinised and audited by government authorities, including the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.” 

It added: “We have annual statutory audits, and all our annual audited balance sheets are in the public domain. There is no question of having undertaken any activity that is beyond our objects of association and compliance mandated by law.” 

“In light of the current MHA order, we will explore all avenues of recourse available to us. Our work and institutional purpose is to advance our constitutional goals and protect constitutional guarantees. We are absolutely confident that the matter will be resolved speedily, in fairness and in the spirit of our constitutional values,” the think tank said in its official note. 

CPR is a non-profit, non-partisan, independent institution dedicated to conducting research that contributes to high-quality scholarship, better policies, and a more robust public discourse about the issues that impact life in India, it claimed. 

It brings together India's best thinkers and policy practitioners who are at the forefront of both research and engagement in the policy space, drawing from various disciplines and professional backgrounds, the website said. 

Last year, the I-T department “surveyed” records of CPR, NGO Oxfam India, and Bengaluru-based Independent and Public-Spirited Media Foundation as part of a probe related to foreign funding. Oxfam's FCRA licence was suspended in January last year, after which the NGO filed a revision petition with the home ministry. 

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