Srinivas Chokkakula, senior fellow at CPR and ministry of jal shakti research chair, will take over as the president and CEO from April 1, the announcement stated.
“An absolute privilege to have led and fought for this remarkable institutions.CPR’s fierce intellectual independence and democratic spirit enriched me enormously. Delighted that CPR India leadership will now be in the very capable hands of my wonderful colleague Srinivas,” Aiyar wrote on X.
Yamini is an alumna of the London School of Economics, St. Edmunds College, Cambridge University and St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University, according to the CPR website.
Last year, home ministry suspended the registration of CPR under Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (2010) (FCRA) after finding “prima facie” violations of FCRA provisions, sources had said.
The suspension of the licence for 180 days had made the think tank ineligible to receive or utilise foreign funds unless specifically authorised by govt. CPR – which has had former PM Manmohan Singh and former Chief Justice Y V Chandrachud on its governing board – had also been under the scrutiny of the income tax department for suspected tax law violations. The I-T department had conducted a “survey” at CPR in Sept 2022.
CPR, founded in 1973 works with govt departments, autonomous institutions, charitable organisations in India and overseas. Its partners and donors include World Bank, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Niti Aayog, Ford Foundation, Foreign and Commonwealth Office and varsities such as Georgetown, Brown and Ashoka. CPR has said that it has worked with govts and grassroots organisations, including ministry of environment, forest and climate change, ministry of rural development, ministry of jal shakti besides state govts of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan.