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Amitabh Kant, Harsh Vardhan Shringla join Centre for Policy Research board
The new appointments come 1.5 years after Yamini Aiyar stepped down as president and CEO on March 26, 2024.
Former NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, Rajya Sabha MP Harsh Vardhan Shringla, agriculture economist professor Ashok Gulati and The Asia Group partner Anand Shah have been appointed as governing body members of the Centre for Policy Research (CPR), a prominent New Delhi-based think tank.
CPR’s governing body, which provides strategic direction and oversees finances, compliance, and leadership to safeguard its mission and independence, has expanded to 13 members after the addition of the four new members on Wednesday.
“CPR is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr Amitabh Kant, Mr Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Prof Ashok Gulati, and Mr Anand Shah to its Governing Board…We look forward to their tenures,” the think tank said in a post on X on Wednesday evening.
Introducing its new body members, the CPR described Kant as a governance reformer, policy change agent, and prolific columnist; Shringla as former foreign secretary, G20 chief coordinator, and India’s envoy to the US, Bangladesh, and Thailand; Gulati as a Padma Shri awardee and distinguished professor at Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), New Delhi; and Shah as former Ola senior vice president and co-founder of Ola Electric.
The new appointments come 1.5 years after Yamini Aiyar stepped down as president and CEO on March 26, 2024.
Founded in 1973, the think tank has faced a series of controversies over alleged financial irregularities and foreign funding misuse.
On September 7, 2022, the Income Tax department raided CPR’s offices over suspected FCRA violations, following which the Union home ministry (MHA) issued a show-cause notice and suspended its FCRA licence for 180 days in February 2023. In October that year, the Delhi high court permitted CPR to use 25% of its fixed deposits to pay staff salaries.
The MHA permanently cancelled CPR’s FCRA registration in January 2024, which resulted in slashing of its funding by an estimated 70–80% and shrinking staff strength from over 150 to around 20. Amid the crisis, Aiyar resigned, and Srinivas Chokkakula took over as president and CEO on April 1, 2024.
