Missionaries of Charity rejects Opposition claim, says 'no freeze ordered by MHA'

In a big twist, Missionaries of Charity (MoC) on Monday rebuked the claims of TMC and CPI(M) to clarify that none of their accounts had been frozen by the Centre. In a statement that has been exclusively accessed by Republic TV, the organization confirmed that the FCRA registration had neither been suspended or canceled. Further, there was no freeze ordered by the Ministry of Home Affairs. The organization further affirmed that they were aware that their FCRA renewal application had not been approved, and as a precautionary measure would not operate their FC accounts till the matter is resolved. 

"We would like to clarify that the FCRA registration of the Missionaries of Charity has been neither suspended or canceled. Further, there is no freeze ordered by the Ministry of Home Affairs on any of our 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," the statement read. 

Controversy over MoC's bank accounts

Earlier today, a massive political storm was created after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleged that the mission's 22,000 patients and employees had been left without food and medicines after the Centre froze all its bank accounts. Her claims were supported by the CPI(M) which also waded into the matter and condemned the Centre over the issue. 

Hours later, the MHA released a detailed statement revealing that the bank accounts of the organization had not been frozen by the Centre. The Centre shared that the organization's renewal application under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) was refused on December 25 after it failed to meet the eligibility conditions under FCRA 2010 and FCRR 2011. No request or a revised application had been sent by the missionaries after the refusal. It also revealed that upon contacting the State Bank of India (SBI), it was found that Missionaries of Charity had itself sent a request to SBI to freeze its accounts.

"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 31st December 2021. MHA did not freeze any accounts of MoC," it said.