New Delhi: The Rajiv Gandhi Foundation is no longer what it used to be in the rise of the United Progressive Alliance government. The Home Ministry has revoked its Foreign Contribution Regulation Act licence, restricting the foundation’s access to international funding.
But the think tank, which has close links with the Gandhi family, has been faltering over the years, reportedly fueled by paucity of funds, lack of autonomy, contract workers, low-impact programming and increased scrutiny by the Narendra Modi government. . , Now it has lost its self-respect. As part of its cost-cutting measures, it has closed its scholarship program, reduced the strength of its staff, and converted its research positions into contractual positions, many sources say, including former employees. Is.
RGF currently operates out of three rooms at Jawahar Bhawan on Raisina Road opposite Krishi Bhawan. The sprawling complex, once considered the headquarters of the Congress, is deserted on a busy weekday morning. An empty corridor on the second floor leads to three rooms bearing the ‘RGF’ nameplate. There is only one employee overseeing the management work.
The silence is broken by the book release and cultural programs organized by Jawahar Bhawan Trust on this occasion. The most recent was the screening of Saeed Akhtar Mirza’s films. Delhi’s intellectual elite and students participated in the week-long festival in August.
Digging into ‘dubious’ funding
The Center has been increasing the investigation of RGF for some time now. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleged that it had “received money from”dubious source”, absconding businessman Mehul Choksi, including controversial ‘preacher’ Zakir Naikstruggling businessmann Jignesh Shah and former Yes Bank CEO Rana Kapoor. In 2020, the home ministry set up an inter-ministerial committee to conduct an inquiry.
The ministry had also accused RGF of receiving money from the Chinese. embassy For lobbying for the ‘Free Trade Agreement between India and China’ in 2005.
An MHA spokesperson told ThePrint that the decision to cancel the FCRA licenses of RGF and Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust is based on the recommendations of the inquiry committee.
On its part, the RGF stated in its declaration to the ministry that “the foreign donation is not likely to prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interest of the State; the freedom of election of any legislature or fairness, friendly relations with any foreign State; or harmony between religious, racial, social, linguistic or regional groups, races or communities.”
But as long as it has uploaded its financials Statement It did not announce the names of the donors, mentioning the amount of donations, grants and funds received and expenditure incurred till the year 2020-21.
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A Gandhi Legacy Behind
The idea of setting up a foundation took root after the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. “The family received many donations as a mark of respect to him and the family. His work has been left unfinished, so it was an attempt to keep his legacy alive,” says Wajahat Habibullah, a close friend and former chief election commissioner of Rajiv Gandhi, who was involved in setting up the foundation.
The RGF was set up with a corpus of Rs 24 crore on 21 June 1991, just a month after the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. Initially, its trustees included former President Shankar Dayal Sharma, former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao, entrepreneur and innovator Sam Pitroda, former Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia and even filmmakers and Gandhi’s close friend Amitabh Bachchan. Major names included.
Habibullah says, “PV Narasimha Rao had sanctioned Rs 100 crore for the foundation, but Mrs Gandhi politely declined, saying she did not want government funds.”
While the foundation focuses on social issues, its partner organisation, the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Contemporary Studies (RGIC), which was established the following year, conducts research and policy development on contemporary challenges facing India.
In the olden days, it was not uncommon for international dignitaries and world leaders to visit the RGF. The first Rajiv Gandhi Memorial Lecture was delivered in 1992 by Robert S. McNamara, former President of the World Bank. Over the years, environmentalist Norman Myers, Nobel laureate Prof. Ahmed H. Zewel, former Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri, former Chinese Ambassador Zhang Yan have all addressed the memorial lecture.
Former British PM Margaret Thatcher delivered the Rajiv Gandhi Golden Jubilee Memorial Lecture in Bangalore in 1995. And there was a time when Prince Charles was at its head. chief custodian In uk. Among other development initiatives, RGF was also famous for scholarships given to Indian students to study at the University of Cambridge, but this has reportedly been discontinued.
Whenever RGF reportedly wants to use Hyderabad House for seminars, the Ministry of External Affairs will agree to its request. HRD Ministry will pay the airfare of RGICS delegates visiting foreign seminars as mentioned in some old reports,
A senior Congress party member told The Print that he had recently raised questions on the ownership of the Jawahar Bhawan land. A Right to Information query only revealed that a piece of land of 9319.42 square yards was allotted on 22 September 1988 in favor of ‘Jawahar Bhawan Trust’ only for the office of Jawahar Bhawan Trust and for other purpose as ‘Jawahar Bhawan Trust’. was leased in favor. whatever”.
In the 90s, the organization’s trustees met every Monday at 10, Janpath – the Lutyens bungalow allotted to Sonia Gandhi at the time of Rajiv’s assassination. However, meetings are now less frequent.
But since the change at the Centre, many policy experts claim that the work of the RGF was never comprehensive and that its prominence was due to the UPA government in power.
“It was not a very comprehensive think tank. Its engagement with foreign policy and national security was relatively limited and was largely focused on domestic, socio-economic issues,” says a former high-ranking RGF official who named didn’t want to take
While some of its projects were “interesting”, it became prominent as the Congress was in power. “If your government is associated with a particular think tank, everyone wants to go there,” he says.
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RGF after Bibek Debroy
The initial phases of discontent began in 2005, when Bibek Debroy, now chairman of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, led research at RGICS. He Left Director’s post in 2005 after a study ranked Gujarat as number one in the Economic Freedom Index. This reportedly did not go down well with many Congress leaders, and discontent spread within the RGF as well.
“There was a big dispute with Bibek Debroy, after which he left. Things changed after Debroy left. Over time, perhaps from an institution, which was an umbrella organisation, it almost became a mouthpiece,” says a senior official of another leading think tank.
When ThePrint reached out to Debroy for a comment, his office replied that he did not wish to comment on the issue.
But it was more than just Debroy’s report or his exit that affected RGF.
“In 2010-11, an attempt was made to make RGF an intellectually powerful think tank, but it failed as the senior Congress leadership never wanted to give autonomy to the organisation. They (Congress) wanted it to follow their instructions and make it an institution which also provides cadre training for the party. No think tank can flourish without autonomy. Till 2014, it was being used as a form of training for party cadres,” says the official.
Other former employees and officials who were once associated with the RGF said the think tank has lost its way. “It became a part of it, and that’s why you don’t see any output of any academic ability,” he says.
Others say that its identity has been reduced to being the mouthpiece of the Congress.
These claims could not be independently verified. Think tank CEO Vijay Mahajan declined to comment on the issue. ThePrint contacted him again over email with a detailed questionnaire, but got no response.
rgf today
The RGF website says it is currently involved with livelihood restoration, skill development, water conservation and heritage. In a recent report in its quarterly publication policy watch, RGF featured an article titled ‘Development without employment – worrying trends from Gujarat’. “Using recently published government data from the Annual Survey of Industries, it shows how this is not happening adequately in Gujarat, which leads to growth of capital investment while Tamil Nadu in terms of factory employment leading,” report StateD.
In another 2020 paper published titled ‘India China Trade and Investment’, it cited ‘Make in India for the Chinese MSMEs’ (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) to manufacture in India as the theme of new industries and exploration. World’ status. Focused strategy for exporting to China.
The think tank is also working with the Congress government in Chhattisgarh on a project to set up a hi-tech power electronics manufacturing hub in the state.
But a section of policy analysts and critics claim they know little about the foundation’s scholars and research associates.
“I don’t see them either calling anything or producing a great report. That was the case before 2014, so I don’t know if they [Congress] Interested in keeping the RGF alive as a thinking space and working on policy matters. It is just repeating the views of the party and the Gandhi family,” says a policy analyst.
(Edited by Likes)