MHA blocks foreign funds to Missionaries of Charity
The Centre said it didn’t approve Missionaries of Charity’s (MoC) Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) renewal application “for not meeting eligibility conditions” and over certain “adverse inputs” received when it was considering the application.
West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee was one of the first to protest after the news reached Kolkata. “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,” she tweeted.
Missionaries of Charity superior-general Sister M Prema
issued a statement on Monday evening confirming that its
FCRA renewal application had been refused. But there “is no
freeze order by the ministry on any of our bank accounts”,
she clarified. “We have asked our centres not to operate any
of the foreign contribution accounts till the matter is
resolved as a measure to ensure there is no lapse,” she said.
The MHA said MoC had itself asked the State Bank of India to
freeze its bank accounts after the ministry rejected its
application for renewal of registration under FCRA. “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 FCRA registration of MoC was valid up to December 31,
2021. MHA didn’t freeze any accounts of MoC. State Bank of
India has informed that MoC itself sent a request to SBI to
freeze its accounts,” the ministry said on Monday.
Elaborating on “adverse inputs”, a source told TOI that they
essentially relate to “audit irregularities”. This means that the
financial dealings or accounts of the NGO associated with
the late Mother Teresa, a Nobel laureate, were not found as
per the requirements under FCRA by the ministry. “The
renewal application under Foreign Contribution Regulation
Act for the renewal of FCRA registration of Missionaries of
Charity (MoC) 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 (MoC) for review of this refusal of
renewal,” said the MHA.
In the absence of renewal of its FCRA licence, Missionaries of
Charity will not be able to receive any foreign funding.
However, its domestic funding will not be impacted. The
foreign receipts of Missionaries of Charity totalled around Rs
75 crore in 2020-21, Rs 104 crore in 2019-20 and Rs 68 crore in
2018-19. The protests started immediately after the news
reached Kolkata. The Catholic Association of Bengal’s
response came immediately after Banerjee’s reaction.
“Today, more than ever before, the poorest are the ones
struggling to come to terms with the unprecedented
situation the pandemic has brought upon them. Mother
Teresa did all she could for the poorest of the poor. Today a
lifeline for those in need has been snapped as funds for all
this work for the marginalised comes from generous
individuals across the world. We see this curtailment of the
FCRA funds as a harsh blow to their efforts to reach out to
the poorest, the orphans, the handicapped, the leapers, the
addicted, the aged and the uncared for, the sick, the
abandoned and the dying,” CAB president Angelina Jasnani
said, adding that the home ministry needed to find a way to
ensure that the poor did not suffer and all required norms of
the FCRA were met at the same time.
Missionaries of Charity spokesperson Sunita Kumar, who was
associated with Mother Teresa for decades, reacted in
disbelief. “This is very distressing. I cannot believe this to be
true. Look at the work they have done in India and all over
the world, caring for those who do not have anyone. The
nuns lead a spartan life. Their quarters are bare. Mother
herself lived all her life without even a fan though her room
in Mother House was just above the kitchen and would be
stifling in summer,” she recounted.
United Interfaith Foundation (India) general secretary
Satnam Singh Ahluwalia called the move “an attack on
humanity to stop social outreach by the Missionaries of
Charity sisters and brothers”. “We condemn the government
action and are appalled by the timing and lack of empathy
to consider the humanitarian disaster this decision will
cause,” he added. TMC Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien called
the Centre’s “clarification” (that no bank account had been
frozen) an example of “MHA... SPINDOCTORING & COVERUP”.
“India has an opposition that will fight the good fight. And I
have a leader who will always stand up for the oppressed,
Mamata Banerjee,” he added.