MHA restored FCRA registration of Missionaries of Charity

New Delhi, Jan 08: The Ministry of Home Affairs has restored the FCRA registration of the Missionaries Charity (MoC), the religious congregation set up by Mother Teresa.

The FCRA registration of the MoC was restored on January 7, the MHA said. It may be recalled that the renewal application under Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) for the renewal of FCRA registration of Missionaries of Charity (MoC) was refused on December 25 for not meeting the eligibility conditions under FCRA 2010 and Foreign Contribution Regulation Rules (FCRR) 2011.

The Ministry of Home Affairs had said that no request or revision application has been received from Missionaries of Charity (MoC) for review of this refusal of renewal.

Missionaries of Charity (MoC) was registered under FCRA and its registration was valid October 31 2021. The validity was subsequently extended up-to 31 Dec 2021 along with other FCRA Associations whose renewal application were pending renewal, the MHA had also said.

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 FCRA registration of MoC was valid up-to 31st December 2021. MHA did not freeze any accounts of MoC. State Bank of India has informed that MoC itself sent a request to SBI to freeze its accounts.

The Missionaries of Charity was established by Mother Teresa on October 7 1950. On December 12 the organisation was booked under the Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act 2003 for allegedly hitting Hindu religious sentiments and luring towards Christianity young girls at a shelter home it runs in Vadodara.

"We appreciate the concern of our well-wishers and extend our heartiest greetings for Christmas and the New Year. We would like to clarify that the FCRA registration of the Missionaries of Charity has been neither suspended nor cancelled," the MoC had said in a statement.