MHA refuses to renew FCRA license of Missionaries of Charity, denies freezing its bank accounts

New Delhi, Dec 27: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Monday said that it refused to renew the FCRA license of Missionaries of Charity (MoC) on December 25 after it received adverse inputs while adding that it did not freeze any accounts of MoC.
In a statement, the MHA said that the renewal application under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) for the renewal of FCRA registration of Missionaries of Charity was refused on December 25, 2021, 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 for review of this refusal of renewal, the ministry said.
“Missionaries of Charity (MoC) was registered under FCRA vide Registration No 147120001 and its registration was valid up to October 31, 2021. The validity was subsequently extended up to December 31, 2021 along with other FCRA Associations whose renewal applications were pending renewal,” the statement reads.
The MHA said that 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, it added.
“The FCRA registration of MoC was valid up to December 31, 2021. MHA did not freeze any accounts of MoC. State Bank of India has informed that MoC itself sent a request to SBI to freeze its accounts,” the MHA said.
Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee criticised the Centre over the issue.
Taking Twitter, Mamata Banerjee said, “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 and employees have been left without food and medicines. While the law is paramount, humanitarian efforts must not be compromised.” (Agencies)