Two days after the Income Tax Department carried out a “survey” on their premises, world non-profit group Oxfam India and the Independent and Public-Spiritual Media Foundation (IPSMF) which funds a number of digital media entities stated that IT personnel Their telephones have been confiscated. Team members for cloning to recuperate knowledge.
In an announcement on Friday, Oxfam India stated: “Officials of the Income Tax (IT) Department conducted an Income Tax ‘Survey’ at the Oxfam India Delhi office from the afternoon of 7 September 2022 to the early hours of 9 September. In these over 35 hours of non-payment During the -stop survey, members of the Oxfam India team were not allowed to leave the premises; internet was switched off and all mobile phones were confiscated.”
“The Income Tax Survey team took hundreds of pages of data related to finance and programs of Oxfam India. They also took all the data by cloning the Oxfam India servers and personal mobile phones of the senior leadership team and finance lead,” it stated.
“While the survey team was courteous and professional, the process of conducting a survey with such wide powers and wide scope has resulted in disappointing Oxfam India, an organization that has been law-abiding and community-centric,” Stating that Oxfam India was compliant with all native legal guidelines together with the Income Tax Act and the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA).
The IPSMF stated it “did not receive any foreign funds at any stage”.
TN Ninan, chairman of the board of trustees of IPSMF, stated in an announcement: “A team of income tax officials came to the foundation’s Bengaluru office on Wednesday, September 7 for a “survey”. They stayed until 4.30 pm. Going by papers and data and asking questions. The workers of the Foundation have been cooperative and so they answered all of the questions requested to them on quite a lot of issues. The officers took the statements of three senior workers members.
“All the laptops and mobile phones were taken for cloning the data in them and came back last night. All employees except CEO Sunil Rajasekhar were allowed to go home in various phases in the evening/night of 7th September and asked to return the next morning for further enquiries. The CEO slept in the office for a few hours on the intervening night of 7-8 September. The Board of Trustees congratulates the employees for their good enthusiasm and patience through the extended proceedings. IT officers were polite during their survey work,” he stated.
“The Foundation believes that its affairs are utterly so as. Some media reporting on IT surveys has linked it to international funding and funding of political events. We wish to make clear that the Foundation needs to be handled at any stage. But has obtained no international funding, and has funded solely media organizations. The basis believes in its mission to help impartial and people-spirited media, and intends to proceed its work,” Ninan stated. .
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The suppose tank Center for Policy Research (CPR), which was topic to an IT “survey” on Wednesday, additionally made an announcement on Friday. “We hold ourselves to the highest standards of compliance and we are confident that we have done nothing wrong. We will work with officials to address any questions they may have,” stated CPR President and Chief Executive Yamini Iyer. are dedicated to.
The assertion stated that as one of many 24 analysis institutes of the Indian Council of Social Science Research community, “CPR has all the necessary approvals and restrictions, and is authorized by the government as recipients under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act.” Is”.
“We have extended full cooperation to the department during the survey and will continue to do so in future also,” Iyer stated.
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
