Days after Missionaries of Charity asked the central government to freeze its bank accounts following refusal of the Union home ministry to renew its FCRA licence, Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday directed district collectors to ensure that no shelter or orphanage under the organisation suffers and added that money from the chief minister’s relief fund can be used for aid, if needed.
On Monday, Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee had claimed that all bank accounts of the Mother Teresa-founded Missionaries of Charity have been frozen by the Centre leading to distress among 22000 inmates of the organisation across the country. However, it was later revealed that the NGO had sent a request to State Bank of India to freeze the accounts in view of MHA’s denial of its request to renew its FCRA licence.
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Officials from the CM’s office said Patnaik directed district collectors to use funds from Chief Minister’s Relief Fund for food and treatment of inmates in orphanages and the leprosy home run by the organisation.
Organisations involveed in philanthropic work can receive donations from foreign countries if they are registered according to provisions under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), 2010.
{{/usCountry}}Organisations involveed in philanthropic work can receive donations from foreign countries if they are registered according to provisions under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), 2010.
{{/usCountry}}Missionaries of Charity runs a leprosy home on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar housing 300 inmates. It also runs 12 orphanages with 600-odd inmates. Besides, there are 87 sisters who look after the day-to-day affairs of these institutions.
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On December 25, the Ministry of Home Affairs had said that Missionaries of Charity’s request for renewal of their certification under FCRA was refused, for “not meeting the eligibility conditions under the FCRA, 2010 and Foreign Contribution Regulation Rules (FCRR) 2011”.
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The registration was originally set to expire on October 31, however, its license was extended till December 31 to give them time to complete the renewal process, due to Covid-19 disruptions.
BJP spokesperson Sajjan Sharma saidthe state government should do the same thing for other organisations in the state facing similar problems.
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“The FCRA renewal of Missionaries of Charity was not done due to audit irregularities. So in this context, what message is the chief minister sending? Does he mean to say that his government would stand for whatever Missionaries of Charity does irrespective of its legalities and proprieties. In a federal government, when the Centre takes certain steps, the states should respect it. But the move by Patnaik is against cooperative federalism,” said Sharma.