FCRA licence of Centre for Policy Research suspended: Report

NGOs receiving foreign funds in India should be registered with the Home Ministry which gives a unique FCRA number. The FCRA needs to be renewed every five years

The Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) licence of Delhi -based public think-tank, Centre for Policy Research (CPR) has been suspended by the Central Government.

The FCRA licence of the CPR was under scrutiny following the income tax raids that were conducted last September. The raids were conducted on Oxfam India as well.

As per the Economic Times () report, CPR's licence was revoked due to non-compliance with FCRA rules. CPR had filed for the renewal of its licence.

The report while citing officials said that the modalities are being worked out for CPR to utilise the funds received in the FCRA account. As per the CPR filing, during the period of October 2022 and December 2022, funds amounting to the tune of Rs 10.1 crore were received from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, University of Pennsylvania, the World Resources Institute and Duke University.

One of the main reasons that led to the suspension of the licence was due to the findings during the IT raids. The Ministry had sought clarification and documentation pertaining to FCRA funds received by CPR.

In September last year, Income Tax raids were conducted on the Centre for Policy Research. CPR is headed by Yamini Aiyar, the daughter of Congress leader, Mani Shankar Aiyar.

CPR on its website states that it is recognised as a not-for-profit society by the government of India and contributions to it are 'tax exempt.'

"CPR receives grants from a variety of domestic and international sources, including foundations, corporate philanthropy, governments, and multilateral agencies," the note also states.

The ET report also said that the review and and renewal applications of many NGOs are under process and licences of more than 200 NGOs have been revoked or have lapsed in the past six months.

This year, over 6,000 NGOs have approached the Supreme Court after their licences were withdrawn. Their pleas were however rejected by the Supreme Court.

In order to receive foreign grants, NGOs must register with the Home Ministry, which assigns a FCRA registration number, which would be renewed every five years.