IT Survey at Oxfam India Office
- By Abhirr VP
- 09 Sep, 2022
NEW DELHI | 09 SEPTEMBER 2022
INCOME TAX SURVEY ON OXFAM INDIA WILL NOT REDUCE COMMITMENT TO SERVE VULNERABLE COMMUNITIES IN INDIA.
New Delhi: The Income Tax (IT) department officials conducted an Income Tax 'survey' at the Oxfam India Delhi office from the 7th September 2022 noon to early hours of 9th September. During these 35 plus hours of non-stop survey, the Oxfam India team members were not allowed to leave the premises; the internet was shut down and all the mobile phones were confiscated.
The Income Tax survey team took away hundreds of pages of data pertaining to finances and programs of Oxfam India. They also took all the data by cloning the Oxfam India server and the private mobile phones of the Senior leadership team and the Finance lead. While the team conducting the survey was polite and professional; the process of a survey with such sweeping powers and broad ambit resulted in disappointing Oxfam India, an organisation that has been law-abiding and community centric.
Oxfam India is compliant with Indian laws and has filed all its statutory compliances, including Income tax and Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) returns, in a timely manner since its inception. This Income Tax survey was undertaken without giving a reason. Oxfam India has co-operated with the Income Tax department during this survey and is committed to doing so in the future. In January 2022 we also had a detailed week-long audit of the FCRA accounts by the auditors appointed by the FCRA division.
In times of growing inequality and greater need for action on poverty eradication, Oxfam India has been and will continue to work in public interest. We are guided by the principle of creating lasting solutions to address the injustice of poverty, to leave no one behind, and to end discrimination and create a free and just society. Oxfam India believes this is our constitutional duty as an organisation, irrespective of obstacles and hurdles in the path.
The past eight months have been distressing for Oxfam India. In December 2021, the renewal of FCRA licence was denied by the Ministry of Home Affairs. Despite this, Oxfam India was conducting one of the largest civil society responses to the Covid crisis across 16 states in India. Oxfam India has provided lifesaving medical and diagnostic equipment to 150 District Hospitals, 172 Primary Health Centres, and 166 Community Health Centres in 16 states. 10 oxygen plants have also been set up and made operational across the country.
The IT survey and MHA’s refusal to renew Oxfam India’s FCRA registration will not reduce our commitment to serve the vulnerable communities in country and uphold values enshrined in the Indian Constitution.
For any query, please reach out to - abhirr@oxfamindia.org
About Oxfam India
Oxfam India is a movement of people working to end discrimination and create a free and just society. We work to ensure that Adivasis, Dalits, Muslims, and women and girls have safe violence-free lives with freedom to speak their minds, equal opportunities to realize their rights, and a discrimination-free future.
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