Kolkata: The Centre has frozen all bank accounts of Missionaries of Charity founded by Mother Teresa, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claimed on Monday.
The Ministry of Home Affairs immediately rubbished the charge and said it did not freeze any account of the Missionaries of Charity.
Expressing shock, Banerjee said that this move has left Missionaries of Charity's 22,000 patients and employees without food and medicines.
"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," she tweeted.
"While the law is paramount, humanitarian efforts must not be compromised," Banerjee added.
MHA reaction
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Home Affairs on Monday said the Missionaries of Charity's application for renewal of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) registration was refused on December 25 for not meeting eligibility conditions as some adverse inputs were received.
In a statement, the MHA also said that it did not freeze any account of the Missionaries of Charity but State Bank of India has informed that the organisation itself sent a request to the bank to freeze its accounts.
The MHA said the application for the renewal of FCRA registration of MoC was refused on December 25 for not meeting the eligibility conditions under the FCRA 2010 and the Foreign Contribution Regulation Rules (FCRR) 2011.
"No request or revision application has been received from Missionaries of Charity for review of this refusal of renewal," the statement said.
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.
Nobel-laureate Mother Teresa, a Roman Catholic nun who died in 1997, founded the Missionaries of Charity in 1950. Hardline Hindu outfits supporting the ruling BJP have repeatedly accused the MoC of leading religious conversion programmes under the guise of charity by offering poor Hindus and tribal communities money, free education and shelter.
Head-quartered in the eastern state of West Bengal, the MoC has more than 3,000 nuns worldwide who run hospices, community kitchens, schools, leper colonies and homes for abandoned children.
Vicar General Dominic Gomes of the Archdiocese of Calcutta said the freeze of the West Bengal accounts was "a cruel Christmas gift to the poorest of the poor".
