Freezing of Missionaries of Charity account: What Mamata, Centre say

Hours after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claimed that the Centre has frozen all bank accounts of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity, the Home Ministry denied having made any such move.

As per an NDTV report, the government did not freeze bank accounts operated by Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity claiming that the Kolkata-based organisation itself wrote to the State Bank of India seeking suspension of its accounts.

The Ministry said that on December 25 it had refused to renew the organisation’s FCRA, or Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, licence after being made aware of “adverse inputs”.

“In consideration of these inputs on record, the renewal application of Missionaries of Charity was not approved. The FCRA registration of Missionaries of Charity was valid up to December 31, 2021,” a statement from the ministry said.

Earlier, expressing shock over the occurrence, 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.

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.

— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) December 27, 2021

While no announcement in this regard has been made by the Centre, officials at the Missionaries of Charity too haven’t commented on the matter.

Missionaries of Charity was in the news earlier this month over allegations of forcing girls at a shelter home in Gujarat to wear a cross and read the Bible. According to the complaint filed by district social officer Mayank Trivedi, 13 Bibles were found in the library of the shelter home and that girls were forced to read from them.

The charitable organisation was founded by Mother Teresa in 1950. A recipient of the Bharat Ratna, Mother Teresa was conferred sainthood by Pope Francis in 2016.