The Central authorities on Wednesday suspended the Overseas Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) licence of public think-tank Centre for Coverage Analysis (CPR) over violation of legal guidelines. In a letter to the assume tank, the Ministry of Dwelling Affairs mentioned that its registration beneath the FCRA has been suspended for a interval of 180 days over violation of legal guidelines.
Based in 1973, CPR has been concerned in analysis with a deal with India’s twenty first Century challenges. Meenakshi Gopinath, a political scientist who taught at Jawaharlal Nehru College, is its chairperson. Yamini Aiyar, daughter of senior Congress chief Mani Shankar Aiyar, is the President and Chief Govt of the Centre for Coverage Analysis. In 2008, she based the Accountability Initiative at CPR, which is credited with pioneering one in every of India’s largest expenditure monitoring surveys for elementary training.
In reply to the discover, CPR on Wednesday mentioned it will “discover all avenues of recourse”.
The CPR has been beneath the lens after the Revenue Tax division performed surveys final 12 months. The FCRA licence of CPR was final renewed in 2016 and was due for renewal in 2021.
With the licence suspension, CPR won’t be able to obtain any new funds from overseas. The donors of CPR included the Invoice and Melinda Gates Basis, the College of Pennsylvania, the World Assets Institute and Duke College.
In an official word issued by CPR on Wednesday, the assume tank mentioned: “In September 2022, the Revenue tax division performed I-T surveys at our premises. As a part of the survey follow-up course of, CPR has obtained a number of notices from the division. Following the due course of, detailed and exhaustive responses have been submitted to the division. We’re in full compliance with the legislation and are routinely scrutinised and audited by authorities authorities, together with the Comptroller and Auditor Common of India.”
It added: “We’ve got annual statutory audits, and all our annual audited stability sheets are within the public area. There is no such thing as a query of getting undertaken any exercise that’s past our objects of affiliation and compliance mandated by legislation.”
“In gentle of the present MHA order, we are going to discover all avenues of recourse accessible to us. Our work and institutional function is to advance our constitutional objectives and shield constitutional ensures. We’re completely assured that the matter will likely be resolved speedily, in equity and within the spirit of our constitutional values,” the assume tank mentioned in its official word.
CPR is a non-profit, non-partisan, unbiased establishment devoted to conducting analysis that contributes to high-quality scholarship, higher insurance policies, and a extra sturdy public discourse concerning the points that impression life in India, it claimed.
It brings collectively India’s finest thinkers and coverage practitioners who’re on the forefront of each analysis and engagement within the coverage area, drawing from numerous disciplines {and professional} backgrounds, the web site mentioned.
Final 12 months, the I-T division “surveyed” data of CPR, NGO Oxfam India, and Bengaluru-based Impartial and Public-Spirited Media Basis as a part of a probe associated to overseas funding. Oxfam’s FCRA licence was suspended in January final 12 months, after which the NGO filed a revision petition with the house ministry.
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