Govt did not freeze any accounts of Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity: MHA

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Monday clarified that the Centre did not freeze any accounts of Missionaries of Charity and the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) registration is valid up to 31 December, 2021.

In a statement, the MHA also said that the Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity's application for renewal of the FCRA registration was refused on December 25 for not meeting eligibility conditions as some adverse inputs were received.

It also stated that State Bank of India (SBI) has informed that MoC itself sent a request to SBI to freeze its accounts, the statement said.

''No request or revision application has been received from Missionaries of Charity for review of this refusal of renewal,'' it added.

The MHA statement came hours after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claimed the Centre had frozen all bank accounts of the organisation founded by Mother Teresa.

''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 & medicines. While the law is paramount, humanitarian efforts must not be compromised,'' Banerjee tweeted.

The Missionaries of Charity's registration under the FCRA was valid up to October 31, 2021.

The MHA said the validity was subsequently extended up to December 31, 2021 along with other FCRA associations whose renewal application were pending renewal.

''However, while 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,'' the statement said.

Clarifying the same, the Missionaries of Charity later today released a statement saying that FCRA registration of the organisation has been neither suspended nor cancelled. "Further, there is no freeze ordered by the MHA on any of our bank accounts," it added.

"We have been informed that our FCRA renewal application has not been approved. Therefore, as a measure to ensure that there is no lapse, we have asked our centres not to operate any of the FC accounts until the matter is resolved," MoC stated.

The Missionaries of Charity is a Catholic religious congregation established in 1950 by Mother Teresa.