Formation 2009 Location New Delhi, India | Founder Ajit Doval Director Gen. N.C.Vij | |
Type Public policy think tank Headquarters 3,San Martin Marg, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi - 110021 | ||
The Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) is an Indian public policy think-tank affiliated to the Vivekananda Kendra, which is in turn a charitable organisation affiliated to the Hindu nationalist volunteer organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Along with the India Foundation, it is considered to be a right-wing think-tank closely aligned with the Prime Minister Modi led Government of India.
Contents
Origins and History
The Vivekananda International Foundation describes itself as an "independent, non-partisan institution that promotes quality research and in-depth studies." However it is affiliated to the Vivekananda Kendra, a charitable organisation set up by Eknath Ranade, full-time missionary and former General Secretary of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The Vivekananda Kendra is said to be one of fifteen important front organisations of the RSS, which derives its income from the Vivekananda Rock Memorial, also set up by Ranade.
The Foundation was established in December 2009, at a site in New Delhi's Chanakyapuri allotted by the P. V. Narasimha Rao government in 1993. Ajit Doval, who retired as the director of the Intelligence Bureau in 2005, devoted his energies into building the organisation and became its founder Director. The Foundation made news in 2011-2012 when it was said to be instrumental in bringing together Anna Hazare, Arvind Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi, along with Baba Ramdev, to form the 'Team Anna'. In 2014, its director Ajit Doval was appointed by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi as India's National Security Advisor. The Prime Minister's Principal Secretary Nripendra Misra and the Additional Principal Secretary P. K. Mishra were also recruited from the Foundation's staff. The Prime Minister Modi is said to have been following the Foundation for some time and impressed with its work.
The Foundation states that it has no formal organisational links with the RSS or the Bharatiya Janata Party. However, commentators have found Hindu nationalist ideas in several of its publications. The news magazine Tehelka has claimed that the Foundation supplied the intellectual inputs for the Narendra Modi campaign, defended him against charges in the Ishrat Jahan case, and spearheaded the Anna Hazare anti-corruption movement to undercut the United Progressive Alliance government.
Areas of Research
Its stated mission is to "bring together the best minds in India to ideate on key national and international issues; promote initiatives that further the cause of peace and global harmony; monitor social, economic and political trends that have a bearing on India’s unity and integrity; analyse the causes for social and ethnic conflicts leading to extremism and offer policy alternatives; interact with civil society and offer institutional support for exchange of ideas and interaction among conflicting groups; critique public policy and the working of democratic institutions and constitutional bodies; and evolve benchmarks for good governance and efficiency in public institutions." The Foundation has several centres of study to conduct research in line with its declared mission.
Output
The Foundation's primary output ranges from short articles and reports published online to monographs and occasional papers. In addition, the Foundation also holds regular seminars and a monthly discourse on contemporary subjects titled "Vimarsh". The thinktank has also worked with other thinktanks on joint reports. A monthly magazine "Vivek" is also brought out by the Foundation
People
The staff at the Vivekananda International Foundation is largely composed of retired bureaucrats and intelligence officials, and retired military personnel.