Mother Teresa Missionaries of Charity Fund Row: 10 Things You Should Know

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed shock on Monday after the Central government announced that the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act ( FCRA) license of the Mother Teresa Missionaries of Charity (MoC) will not be renewed. The Centre then came out with statements in an attempt to clarify the issue.

The fresh political controversy broke out when Banerjee alleged that the Central government froze the bank accounts of the Mother Teresa's Foundation. The government then instantly denied it. The Missionaries of Charity is a Catholic religious congregation that was established in 1950 by Mother Teresa.

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Mother Teresa Missionaries of Charity fund Controversy: All You Need To Know

1. Mamata Banerjee tweeted on Monday about the alleged freezing of bank accounts. She claimed that 22,000 patients and employees of the MoC have been left without food and medicines.
2. The Union government then issued their statement in which they claimed that the Missionaries of the Charity itself requested the State Bank of India to freeze their accounts.
3. The government added that the request to renew the FCRA registration of MoC was rejected on December 25 on the grounds of "adverse inputs". The request is not yet applied for review, as per a report.
4. The Ministry of Home Affairs stated in its statement that application under the FCRA registration did not meet "eligibility conditions under FCRA 2010 and Foreign Contribution Regulation Rules (FCRR) 2011."
5. According to the earlier registration of the MoC was valid till October 31, 2021. It was then extended to December 31, 2021 along with other associations of FCRA whose renewal applications were also pending.
6. On the issue of " adverse inputs" provided by the Missionaries of Charity, the government is yet to give further details.
7. The FCRA was amended in 2020 to make the law stricter. As per the amended Act, non-government organisations who receive foreign funding will have to operate bank accounts in State Bank of India, New Delhi only.
8. The Missionaries of Charity also issued their statement and said that the FCRA registration of the organisation was "neither suspended not cancelled" and that the government did not freeze their bank accounts.  "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 centres not to operate any of the FC accounts until the matter is resolved."
9. Mamata Banerjee led Trinamool Congress still alleged that the Central government is putting pressure on the organisation. Derek O'Brien, TMC member and Rajya Sabha MP, tweeted, "First the government of India intimidates. For weeks, right through to December 25. And then they pile on the pressure to extract this Shame on the MHA and its shameless damage control tactics."
10. Many fronts such as the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Archdiocese of Kolkata condemned the Centre for freezing the accounts of MoC. Members of the Bharatiya Janta Party have accused TMC of religious polarisation.