The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has revoked the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) license of the prominent think-tank Centre for Policy Research (CPR). This action took place approximately a year after the suspension of its FCRA license, citing alleged non-compliance with norms in receiving funds from foreign sources.
Without the FCRA licence, the NGO will not be able to receive any funds from abroad. It can also not use the existing foreign donations without the MHA’s clearance.
The donors of CPR include the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the University of Pennsylvania, the World Resources Institute, Duke University, Hanns Seidel Foundation, the State Bank of India and Namati Inc, among others.
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CPR’s FCRA License Extended, Income Tax Surveys Prompt Notices
In March of the previous year, authorities suspended CPR’s FCRA license for 180 days and subsequently extended the suspension.
In September 2022, the income tax department surveyed CPR’s premises, and as part of the survey follow-up process, the department issued several notices to the NGO. The I-T Department also conducted surveys on NGO Oxfam India and the Independent and Public Spirited Media Foundation (IP SMF) in Bengaluru.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh had then remarked that said it was “absolutely atrocious” that research & advocacy organisations, and independent charitable trusts like CPR, Oxfam, and IPSMF were raided “at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.”
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