Govt suspends foreign funding licence of CPR

The policy think-tank said it was “absolutely confident” that the matter will be resolved “speedily” and that it continues to cooperate fully with the authorities.

New Delhi: The Union government has suspended the foreign funding licence of leading think-tank Centre for Policy Research (CPR) for allegedly violating provisions of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), people familiar with the development said on Wednesday.

Income tax department officials leave after conducting a raid at premises of the think-tank Centre for Policy Research, in New Delhi in 2022. (PTI)

The policy think-tank said it was “absolutely confident” that the matter will be resolved “speedily” and that it continues to cooperate fully with the authorities.

“The suspension was ordered on Monday based on prime facie evidence that certain provisions of FCRA were not followed by the think-tank,” said an official from the Union home ministry, requesting anonymity. “After suspension, thorough investigation will take place and further decision will be taken.”

In a statement released on its website, CPR said all its balance sheets are in public domain, adding that it will explore all avenues of recourse available.

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

Operational since 1973, CPR is a non-profit think-tank that caries out research on a wide range of policy-relevant topics. Meenakshi Gopinath, political scientist and former principal of Lady Shri Ram College, is the chairperson of CPR.

The government’s move against the think-tank has come months after the Income Tax department in September 2022 conducted a “survey” at the CPR premises as part of its probe into foreign funding to various organisations. The department had also conducted I-T survey at two other organisations — Oxfam India and Bengaluru-based Independent and Public-Spirited Media Foundation (IPSMF) — along with CPR.

People cited above said the I-T department had submitted its findings to the government, after which the FCRA division of the home ministry took the decision to suspend the CPR’s licence on Monday.

Under FCRA, the licence of an organisation can be suspended for 180 days during which it cannot receive any foreign funding and the amount lying in its foreign funding account can be used only with prior approval of the MHA.

Among the donors of CPR include Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the University of Pennsylvania, the World Resources Institute and the Duke University. The policy think-tank also receives grants from the Indian Council for Social Science Research (ICSSR).

The official cited above said the CPR has been asked to give clarification and documents regarding FCRA funds received by it. The FCRA licence of CPR was last renewed in 2016.

“In light of the current MHA order, we will explore all avenues of recourse available to us... We are absolutely confident that the matter will be resolved speedily, in fairness and in spirit of our constitutional values,” the CPR statement added. “…CPR has and continues to cooperate fully with the authorities.”

As on Wednesday, a total of 16,419 FCRA-registered organisations are operational in the country.