Missionaries of Charities froze its accounts, says Union Home Ministry​​​​​​​

The Union Home Ministry has clarified that the application for the renewal of registration of Missionaries of Charities under Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) has been refused on December 25, 2021, but it has not frozen the bank accounts of the organisation.

A communique by the Ministry has stated that the application was rejected for not meeting the eligibility conditions under FCRA 2010 and Foreign Contribution Regulation Rules (FCRR) 2011. No request/revision application has been received from Missionaries of Charity (MoC) for review of this refusal of renewal.

“Missionaries of Charity (MoC) was registered under FCRA vide Registration No 147120001 and its registration was valid up-to 31 Oct 2021. The validity was subsequently extended up-to 31 Dec 2021 along with other FCRA Associations whose renewal application were pending renewal,” the Ministry stated.

According to the Union Home Ministry, some adverse inputs were noticed while considering the application, hence it was rejected. It further clarified that the Ministry did not freeze the bank accounts of Missionaries of Charities, but the organisation itself had written to the State Bank of India to freeze its accounts.

The clarification from the Ministry comes in the wake of a charge by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee that the Centre had frozen the bank accounts of Missionaries of Charities, established by Mother Teresa.