FCRA licence of Indian Social Institute revoked
Union home ministry has revoked the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) licence of prominent think tank Indian Social Institute (ISI), citing alleged violation of rules, said officials. The institute, set up in 1951, critically analysed the National Education Policy 2020 in its journal, Social Action, published in 2023. Social Action is listed in the University Grants Commission Consortium for Academic Research and Ethics as an approved social science journal, as per ISI.
When contacted, a representative from ISI declined to comment.
The journal, on the topic of 'Peace and Conflict', published in 2023, discussed the ethnic violence in Manipur and «unresolved political aspirations of people in Kashmir and Nagaland».
The FCRA licence is granted by the home ministry to NGOs and think tanks for five years and their applications are reviewed on the basis of annual returns and foreign grants received for the purpose they are meant for. The FCRA Act was amended in 2020. Any misuse or diversion of foreign funds is considered a violation of the Act, said officials.
ISI, as per its website, was founded by Fr. Jerome D'Souza, who had mediated between the Vatican and (Prime Minister Jawaharlal) Nehru regarding ending Portuguese control over Indian churches. He was a member of the Indian Constituent Assembly and four times India's delegate to the United Nations General Assembly. In the past one year, more than 100 NGOs, including Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust, headed by former Congress
