The Income Tax Department has launched a probe into several prominent non-governmental organisations (NGOs), including the Centre for Policy Research (CPR) and Oxfam, alleging that their foreign funding influences their activities in India and hampers economic development initiatives.
According to an investigation by The Indian Express, these NGOs have been linked to litigation that reportedly stalls significant projects, including those of major corporations such as the Adani Group and JSW. Notably, over 75% of the funding for four of these NGOs during a five-year period was sourced from abroad, prompting scrutiny regarding their operational motives.
The investigation commenced following searches conducted on September 7, 2022, at the premises of Oxfam, CPR, Environics Trust, the Legal Initiative for Forest and Environment (LIFE), and Care India Solution for Sustainable Development. The Income Tax Department’s findings suggest that these organisations may have violated the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) through discrepancies in annual returns and the misuse of foreign funds. As a result, their FCRA licences have been revoked, leading to ongoing legal challenges in the Delhi High Court.
The department’s correspondence, which spans over 100 pages for each NGO, outlines serious allegations, including that foreign funding is steering the organisations away from their original purposes. For instance, between 2015 and 2021, Care India reportedly received 92% of its funding from foreign sources, while Environics Trust and LIFE received 95% and 86%, respectively.
The NGOs are said to be interconnected, with overlapping personnel, raising concerns about a coordinated effort to obstruct national development initiatives. A specific letter addressed to Environics Trust indicates that these organisations are allegedly working together to support protests against various projects, potentially creating law and order challenges.
In its defence, CPR expressed deep concern over the negative portrayal of its activities in the media, asserting its commitment to impartial, evidence-based policy research. The organisation highlighted its role in promoting diverse perspectives and engaging in meaningful public discourse. CPR reiterated its faith in the judicial system, emphasising its dedication to the public interest and its intention to contest the allegations in court.
”We are deeply anguished by the commentary in the media casting aspersions on CPR’s integrity, objectivity and its commitment to engage with ideas that matter to the nation. This reportage betrays ignorance of CPR’s provenance, its passion for evidence-based policy research, its rich traditions of accommodating multiple perspectives, promoting debates to inform policy thinking and shaping public discourse. These qualities have built CPR’s reputation across the world for impartiality, probity and penchant for encouraging diverse views. CPR has always strived to strengthen India and its institutional processes. We also take our obligation to promote public interest very seriously. We have already appealed against the allegations in the courts. We reaffirm our complete faith in the country’s judicial processes,” CPR statement said.
