Govt cancels FCRA licence of Centre for Policy Research

New Delhi: The Ministry of Home Affairs has cancelled the FCRA licence of prominent public think-tank Centre for Policy Research (CPR) over violation of laws.

Last year, the government had suspended the licence on March 1.

The CPR was under scrutiny after Income Tax surveys on it.

Also read: HC allows Centre for Policy Research to utilise portion of its funds to pay salary to employees

The donors of CPR included the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the University of Pennsylvania, the World Resources Institute and the Duke University, the officials said. CPR, a non-profit organisation, which also receives grants from the Indian Council for Social Science Research (ICSSR), is a recognised institution of the Department of Science and Technology. 

According to CPR's website, it has been one of India's leading public policy think-tanks since 1973.

CPR 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 claimed.

It brings together India's best thinkers and policy practitioners who are at the forefront of both research and engagement in the policy space, drawing from various disciplines and professional backgrounds, the website said.

CPR conducts advanced and in-depth research on a wide range of policy-relevant issues, with a focus on India's 21st-century challenges, it said.

Through its research and policymaking engagements, CPR works closely with policymakers in its aim to place India firmly on the path of building a twenty-first century policy ecosystem, the non-profit's website said.