Home Ministry says it did not freeze any bank accounts of Missionaries of Charity.
NEW DELHI (AA) – India has effectively cut access to foreign funding by a charity organization founded by Nobel laureate Mother Teresa.
The Home Ministry said Monday that it has refused to renew a license which enabled the Missionaries of Charity (MoC) to receive donations from abroad.
“The renewal application under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) for the renewal of FCRA registration of the Missionaries of Charity was refused on Dec. 25, 2021 for not meeting the eligibility conditions. No request or revision application has been received from the Missionaries of Charity for review of this refusal of renewal,” it said in a statement.
The license is necessary for non-profits to secure foreign funds and use them for charity purposes in India.
However, the ministry has said it did not freeze any bank accounts of the Missionaries of Charity.
“The State Bank of India has informed that the Missionaries of Charity itself sent a request to freeze its accounts,” said the ministry.
The Missionaries of Charity’s registration was valid until Oct. 31, 2021 and was subsequently extended to Dec. 31.
“While considering the MoC’s renewal application, some adverse inputs were noticed. In consideration of these inputs on record, the renewal application of the MoC was not approved,” the ministry said.
Meanwhile, the Missionaries of Charity has clarified that the Home Ministry had not ordered the freezing of its accounts.
“The FCRA registration of the Missionaries of Charity has been neither suspended nor cancelled,” it said in a statement.
“We have been informed that our FCRA renewal application has not been approved. Therefore, as a measure to ensure there is no lapse, we have asked our centers not to operate any of the FC (Foreign Contribution) accounts until the matter is resolved,” said the statement.
Mamta Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal state, said earlier that the government had blocked all bank accounts of the Missionaries of Charity.
“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 and medicines. While the law is paramount, humanitarian efforts must not be compromised,” Banerjee tweeted.
Earlier this month, the Missionaries of Charity was booked in Gujarat for allegedly “hurting Hindu religious sentiments” and “luring young girls towards Christianity” at a shelter home in the city of Vadodara. Gujarat is the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, the organization rejected the charge.