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It’s ironic that when the government has recognised the need to build and fund universities and research institutions, a premier think tank in the capital, the Centre for Policy Research (CPR), has come in the cross-hairs of state agencies. A few months ago, the Ministry of Home Affairs cancelled its FCRA (Foreign Contribution Regulation Act) registration, a requisite to access foreign funds that constitute a significant section of its corpus. Now, the Income Tax department has cancelled CPR’s tax exemption status, which it has held since 1976. The decision follows a show cause notice that the IT authorities had served in December last, wherein the Centre was told it carried out activities “not in accordance with the objects and conditions” under which it was registered.
In September last year, the IT department had conducted “surveys” on CPR for alleged tax discrepancies. Following the “survey”, the department found “certain specified violations”, which includes the think tank’s “involvement” in the Hasdeo movement against coal mining in the Chhattisgarh forests. The investigation team of the IT department has red-flagged funds provided by CPR to Jana Abhivyakti Samajik Vikas Sanstha, an outfit involved in the preservation of the environment. The survey claims that funds were provided to individuals associated with it to identify “litigation issues, mobilisation of people and funds for the Hasdeo movement”, which falls outside the mandate claimed by CPR. In a democracy, institutions like CPR bring together a range of experts — cutting across disciplines — who use the tools of research and education to enrich discourse around policy. Indeed, the CPR has worked on areas as wide as analysing election data to evaluating the government’s flagship programmes such as PM Poshan. Such informed deliberations and publications feed into the policy debate and help both state and non-state agencies to finetune, even course-correct. It is difficult to expect the state planning boards or Niti Aayog to fill this task of both making and auditing public policy as well as do broad analysis of political and social trends. That’s why many governments lean on think tanks to build capacities in decision-making. That’s why good think tanks depend on donors, governments and funding sources that tie few hands, attach few strings. A disruption in the flow of funds could cripple their activities, force them to scale down operations and even shut shop. Certainly, CPR needs to address questions raised by the tax authorities but to cancel its exemption status — key to its funding — is heavy-handed and a disturbing throwback to the licence permit inspector raj.
Tax inspectors, surely, can not be expected to evaluate the merits of research or publications. They may succeed in forcing institutions to conform with the government’s goals and priorities. But that will come at a cost — it will hurt policymaking, it will do disservice to the many ideas that policymakers need to discuss and debate.
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