In March 2023, about 100 academics based outside India released an open letter criticising the Indian government’s move to suspend the FCRA (Foreign Contribution Regulation Act) licence of the Centre for Policy Research (CPR), a leading think tank focussed on public policy research and advocacy. An FCRA registration is necessary to obtain foreign funding. The CPR used to raise more than 75% of its funds from outside India. By suspending its FCRA licence, the government had effectively crippled its finances.
In their letter, the scholars said the move “sets a dangerous precedent that will impair the pursuit of research and independent judgement in the country”. Their warning about the “dangerous precedent” seemed to have made no impression on the Union Home Ministry, which has now cancelled the CPR’s FCRA licence altogether.
Founded in 1973, the CPR, according to its website, is a “non-profit, non-partisan, independent institution dedicated to conducting research that contributes to high quality scholarship, better policies, and a more robust public discourse about the issues that impact life in India”. It is a member of the Indian Council of Social Science Research and is recognised by the Department of Science and Technology. Its funders have included the government of India, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Ford Foundation, among many others in India and abroad.
