India

Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity suspends operation of accounts after GoI refuses FCRA renewal

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Members of the Missionaries of Charity distribute food to underprivileged children in Kolkata. [Photo: ANI]

New Delhi: The Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity on Monday said that its centers across India are not operating the organization’s foreign contribution accounts after the Government of India refused to renew its permission to receive funds from abroad.

The organization runs more than 240 homes for orphans, the destitute, and AIDS patients across India.

In a press statement, the Ministry of Home Affairs said that the organization’s application was refused on Christmas Day for failing to meet the eligibility conditions under Foreign Contribution Regulation Act 2010 and Foreign Contribution Regulation Rules 2011.

“…While considering the MoC’s renewal application, some adverse inputs were noticed,” the Home Ministry said.

The Missionaries of Charity’s registration under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act was initially valid till October 31, and was then extended to December 31, the Ministry said. The religious congregation had filed an application to further extend the registration.

The Ministry statement added: “State Bank of India has informed that MoC itself sent a request to SBI to freeze its accounts.”

However, the Missionaries of Charity in its statement said that its Foreign Contribution Regulation Act registration had not been suspended or canceled.

But the organization said it had asked its units not to operate any accounts that receive foreign contributions “until the matter is resolved”…“as a measure to ensure there is no lapse”.

The Home Ministry clarification came hours after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claimed that the Government of India had frozen the organization’s bank accounts.

“Shocked to hear that on Christmas, Union Ministry FROZE ALL BANK ACCOUNTS of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity in India!” she said in a tweet. “…While the law is paramount, humanitarian efforts must not be compromised.”

The controversy follows a spate of attacks on Christians around Christmas.

Hindu right-wing group members disrupted Christmas celebrations in two schools in Gurugram in Haryana and Pandavapura in Karnataka on Saturday. A day later, a statue of Jesus Christ at the Holy Redeemer Church in Haryana’s Ambala was broken.

 

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