The Union Home Ministry (MHA) said on Monday that it has refused to renew the FCRA registration of Missionaries of Charity (MoC), a Catholic religious organization set up by Mother Teresa, as “some adverse inputs were noticed.”
FCRA registration is mandatory for any NGO or association to receive foreign funds or donations.
Missionaries of Charity (MoC) said that as their FCRA application has not been approved. They have asked their centres not to operate the bank accounts associated with it.
According to the 2020-21 annual financial returns filed by the MoC on December 13, it had received over ₹75 crore donation from 347 foreign individuals and 59 institutional donors.
Missionaries of Charity had a balance of ₹27.3 crore in its FCRA account carried forward from the previous year and the total balance stood at ₹103.76 crore.
The NGO registered in Kolkata has more than 250 bank accounts across the country to utilise the foreign funds. Some of the biggest donors are Missionaries of Charity in the U.S. and United Kingdom.
MHA said in a statement that the renewal was refused on December 25 for not meeting the eligibility conditions and “No request / revision application has been received from Missionaries of Charity (MoC) for review of this refusal of renewal.” It said that its license was valid till October 31 but it was extended till December 31 along with other associations whose renewal is pending.
“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.
Nobel Peace laureate Saint Mother Teresa, who died in 1997, founded the Missionaries of Charity in 1950. The charity has more than 3,000 nuns worldwide who run hospices, community kitchens, schools, leper colonies and homes for abandoned children.
