FCRA licence of St Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity restored

NEW DELHI: The Union government has restored the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) registration of Mother Teresa’s organisation, Missionaries of Charity (MOC), less than a fortnight after it declined the renewal citing “adverse inputs”, people familiar with the development said on Saturday.

The FCRA licence, mandatory for receiving and utilising foreign funds, was restored on Friday after the charity submitted “certain documents”, a person familiar with the development said on condition of anonymity.

A spokesperson for MOC said, “We had thought that the process might take some time. We never thought it would happen so fast. We are delighted.”

The Union home ministry’s move on Friday, first reported by The Hindu, coincided with several British MPS raising the Indian government’s decision not to renew the registration in the UK’S Parliament. The MPS asked the Boris Johnson government to take up the matter with

India. A political controversy broke out over the Centre’s December 25 decision. According to the Union home ministry data, the charity, set up by the Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1950, was among the 5,968 nonprofits taken out of FCRA ambit in December 2021.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee was among the first to launch a blistering attack on the Centre, accusing the home ministry of freezing the bank accounts of the charity headquartered in Kolkata.

The home ministry denied the charge, insisting that the Catholic religious order and philanthropic organisation requested its bank to freeze the account in view of the MHA’S decision not to renew its FCRA registration.

In a statement on December 27, the MHA said its FCRA registration, which was initially valid till October 31, 2021, was extended till December 31 since a decision on its request for renewal was pending.

“However, while considering the Moc’s renewal application, some adverse inputs were noticed,” it said.