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ICSSR issues show-cause to CSDS over past irregularities
ICSSR issued a show-cause notice to CSDS for irregularities and biased data on elections, threatening to withdraw funding if not resolved in 7 days.
New Delhi: The Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), an autonomous body under the Union ministry of education, on Wednesday issued a show-cause notice to the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), citing past irregularities and “gross violations” of grant-in-aid rules.
The notice accuses CSDS of releasing misleading election data related to Maharashtra and giving a “biased interpretation” of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar, allegedly aimed at “maligning the reputation and image” of the Election Commission of India (ECI).
The national body that oversees research in the social sciences in the country, has threatened to cancel and withdraw the grant in aid to CSDS, which it said “is discretionary in nature,” if the think tank fails to submit its explanation on “administrative and financial irregularities” and on “deliberate misrepresentation of facts” within 7 days.
This comes a day after Sanjay Kumar, a professor at CSDS Delhi had on Tuesday apologised for his X post on the Maharashtra elections, which wrongly reported a considerable fall in voter numbers in the two assembly seats compared to the Lok Sabha elections. He said the error occurred due to misreading of a row by the data team. “The tweet has since been removed. I had no intention of dispersing any form of misinformation,” wrote Sanjay Kumar, who is among the most senior researchers at the independent think tank which is known for its analysis of elections. Meanwhile, a case has been registered against Kumar by the district electoral officers (DEO) of Nashik and Nagpur in Maharashtra for allegedly misleading voters with wrong data on the Devlali and Ramtek assembly segments for the Lok Sabha and state elections held in 2024.
In its show-cause notice to CSDS director Awadhendra Sharan, seen by HT, the ICSSR said that in a study on Maharashtra polls, CSDS deliberately allowed its employee to “make incorrect statements in media maligning the reputation and image” of ECI and subsequently retracted from the same “citing glitches in data analysis regarding elections in Maharashtra.”
A CSDS study titled “How inclusive is EC’s special revision exercise?” presented a “biased interpretation” of the ECI’s SIR drive in Bihar and published media stories for “deliberately scandalizing and maligning the reputation and image” of the constitutional body, ICSSR said.
“And whereas it has also come to notice of ICSSR that CSDS and its employees have deliberately been indulging in data manipulation with a deliberate and malicious action to create a narrative with the intention of undermining the sanctity of the constitution authority such as ECI,” ICSSR said asking the CSDS to reveal its funding source for both the studies.
ICSSR in its notice said that CSDS has “continuously been involved in various irregularities in the past” and was asked to submit response and action taken on those irregularities but, “no satisfactory response and action taken report has been received from CSDS.”
ICSSR listed several past irregularities at CSDS, including appointments of faculty and non-academic staff in violation of University Grants Commission (UGC) and ICSSR guidelines, unauthorized financial benefits, non-conduct of governing body elections, opaque selection of the Director, irregular pension and House Rent Allowance (HRA) payments causing loss of public funds, failure to get annual accounts audited by Comptroller Auditor General (CAG), non-disclosure of Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) funds, and non-compliance with ICSSR’s Good Governance principles.
Under its “grant in aid rules to societies and institutions doing research in the field of social sciences (which are outside the scope of University Grants Commission),” ICSSR provides assistance to various societies and institutions doing research in the field of social science.
On August 7, 2023, in response to a question in Parliament, the ministry of education informed Lok Sabha that CSDS was allocated ₹13.92 crore over three years (between 2020–21 and the first quarter of 2023–24).
“We have asked CSDS to give an explanation on irregularities and misinterpretation of data within seven days of today’s notice in respect. ICSSR will take appropriate action against CSDS as per the provisions of its grant-in-aid rules,” said a senior ICSSR official.
