Governing Board

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Meenakshi Gopinath (Chairperson)

Director, Women in Security Conflict Management and Peace (WISCOMP)

C. Raj Kumar (Vice Chairperson)

Founding Vice Chancellor, O.P. Jindal Global University

Amitabh Kant

Chancellor, NIIT University; Former G20 Sherpa and CEO, NITI Aayog

Anand Shah

Partner, The Asia Group; Former Senior Vice President, Ola

Ashok Gulati

Distinguished Professor, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER)

Harsh Vardhan Shringla

Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha); Former Foreign Secretary of India and Chief Coordinator, G20

T. C. A. Raghavan

Former Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan; Former Director General of the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA)

Rohit Bhasin

Former Partner, PwC & Independent Director

Subodh Bhargava

Former Chairman, Tata Communications, TRF Limited, & GlaxoSmithKline Healthcare; Former President, Confederation of Indian Industry

Shyam Divan

Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India

Shyam Saran

Former Foreign Secretary & Senior Fellow, Centre for Policy Research

Vinita Bali

Independent Director & Strategy Adviser

Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR)

Member Secretary

Srinivas Chokkakula

Member Secretary, President & Chief Executive, Centre for Policy Research

STATEMENT

January 17th, 2024

On 10th January 2024, CPR received a notice from the Ministry of Home Affairs cancelling its FCRA status. The basis of this decision is incomprehensible and disproportionate, and some of the reasons given challenge the very basis of the functioning of a research institution. This includes the publication on our website of policy reports emanating from our research being equated with current affairs programming.

During the tenure of our suspension, we sought and obtained interim redress from the honourable Delhi High Court and will continue to seek recourse in all avenues possible.

This cancellation comes after a decision to suspend the FCRA status in February 2023. These actions followed an Income Tax “survey” that took place in September 2022. The actions have had a debilitating impact on the institution’s ability to function by choking all sources of funding. This has undermined the institution’s ability to pursue its well established objective of producing high quality, globally recognised research on policy matters, which it has been recognised for over its 50 years’ existence. During this time the institution has been home to some of the country’s most distinguished academics, diplomats and policymakers.

CPR firmly reiterates that it is in complete compliance with the law, and has been cooperating fully and exhaustively at every step of the process. We remain steadfast in our belief that this matter will be resolved in line with constitutional values and guarantees.

From the President, CPR