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‘No freeze ordered by Ministry of Home Affairs on any of our bank accounts,’ it clarifies
The Missionaries of Charity, a Catholic religious congregation set up Nobel laureate Mother Teresa, on Monday said their FCRA – Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act renewal application has not been approved and that they have asked their centres not to operate these 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 (foreign contribution) accounts until matter is resolved,” a statement from Sister M. Prema, Superior General of the Missionaries of Charity, said.The statement clarified that “FCRA registration of Missionaries of Charity has neither been suspended nor cancelled. Further there is no freeze ordered by the Ministry of Home Affairs [MHA] on any of our bank accounts”.Earlier in the day, reports that bank accounts of Missionaries of Charity have been frozen by the Centre had triggered concerns among social and political circles.
Mamata expresses shock
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Archdiocese of Calcutta expressed shock over the developments.Taking to social media, Ms. Banerjee stated that the decision had left about 22,000 patients and employees without food and medicines. The Trinamool Congress chairperson emphasised that humanitarian efforts must not be compromised.Father Dominic Gomes, Vicar General, Archdiocese of Calcutta, said in a statement, “In freezing the bank accounts of Missionaries of Charity Sisters and Brothers congregations, Government agencies have given a cruel Christmas gift to the poorest of the poor.”
Leaders raise issue
Other leaders of West Bengal, including Communist Party of India ( Marxist) State secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra and Congress Rajya Sabha member Pradip Bhattacharya too raised the issue and criticised the Centre.After the Centre clarified that it had not frozen any bank accounts of the Missionaries of Charity and the organisation came out with a statement, TMC Rajya Sabha member Derek O’ Brien called it “shameless damage control tactics” of the Centre.“First the Government of India INTIMIDATES. For weeks, right through to December 25. And then they pile on the pressure to extract this. Shame on the MHA and its shameless damage control tactics,” he tweeted.Mother Teresa set up the Missionaries of Charity in 1950. She was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1979. She died on September 5, 1997 and declared a saint by Pope Francis in September 2016.