All in it Together for Funds in it

Context: The absence of any clear guidelines for foreign funding in India has raised many controversies. 

Issue of Foreign Funding

• Absence of guidelines: indicating what kind of foreign funding an Indian institution can and should not accept. 
• Flaws in the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), 2010: 

• It does not explicitly prevent any specific source of funding.
• Beyond legal scrutiny: obtaining FCRA certification/ clearance is enough for escaping legal obligations.
• Political funding definition: FCRA rules prohibit political funding, but what constitutes ‘political funding’ is to be decided by the government.
• Ambiguous Prejudicial Connotation: FCRA prohibits accepting funds that ‘prejudicially’ affects India’s relation with a foreign state, but it not clear if ‘prejudicial’ has a positive or a negative connotation.

• For E.g. British High Commission funding into research activities aimed at improving India’s relations with its neighbours, is allowed while the same cannot be said for Chinese investments.
• The Centre for Policy Research receives 80% of its annual funding from foreign sources. 

• Limited access to local funding: Many institutions approach foreign sources because local funding is either going down or is marred with bureaucratic hurdles.

• This has resulted in the migration of talent from government-funded research institutions.

Conclusion

• Deciphering the research agenda, promotion of Indian interests and quality of the output (rather than just source of the funding) should act as the way forward.