Refused FCRA renewal of Missionaries of Charity for not meeting eligibility norms; didn't freeze accounts: MHA

The Missionaries of Charity is a Catholic religious congregation established in 1950 by Mother Teresa. Pic/ istock

The Ministry of Home Affairs on Monday said the Missionaries of Charity's application for renewal of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) registration was refused on December 25 for not meeting eligibility conditions as some adverse inputs were received.

In a statement, the MHA also said that it did not freeze any account of the Missionaries of Charity but State Bank of India has informed that the organisation itself sent a request to the bank to freeze its accounts.

However, a statement signed by Sister M Prema, Superior General of the famed missionary body set up by Mother Teresa, did not clarify whether it had asked State Bank of India to freeze its accounts, as claimed by the MHA.

"We would like to clarify that the FCRA registration of the Missionaries of Charity has been neither suspended nor cancelled. Further, there is no freeze ordered by the Ministry of Home Affairs on any of our bank accounts. We have been informed that our FCRA renewal application has not been approved. As a measure to ensure there is no lapse, we have asked our centres not to operate any of the FC accounts until the matter is resolved," ssaid the Missionaries of Charity in a statement.

Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien, however, targeted the Centre and said they were "intimidating" the organistaion.

The MHA statement came hours after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claimed the Centre had frozen all bank accounts of the organisation founded by Mother Teresa.

"Shocked to hear that on Christmas, Union Ministry FROZE ALL BANK ACCOUNTS of Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity in India! Their 22,000 patients & employees have been left without food & medicines. While the law is paramount, humanitarian efforts must not be compromised," Banerjee tweeted.

The MHA said the application for the renewal of FCRA registration of MoC was refused on December 25 for not meeting the eligibility conditions under the FCRA 2010 and the Foreign Contribution Regulation Rules (FCRR) 2011.

"No request or revision application has been received from Missionaries of Charity for review of this refusal of renewal," the statement said.

The Missionaries of Charity's registration under the FCRA was valid up to October 31, 2021.

The MHA said the validity was subsequently extended up to December 31, 2021 along with other FCRA associations whose renewal applications were pending renewal.

"However, while considering the MoC's renewal application, some adverse inputs were noticed. In consideration of these inputs on record, the renewal application of MoC was not approved," the statement said.

The FCRA registration of MoC was valid up to December 31, 2021 and the MHA did not freeze any account of the MoC.

"The State Bank of India has informed that MoC itself sent a request to SBI to freeze its accounts," the statement said.

The Missionaries of Charity is a Catholic religious congregation established in 1950 by Mother Teresa.

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