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The Home Ministry on Monday said that the government did not freeze bank accounts of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity and reiterated that the Charity wrote to the State Bank of India asking for the accounts to be suspended, according to reports.
"MHA did not freeze any accounts of Missionaries of Charity. State Bank of India has informed that Missionaries of Charity itself sent a request to SBI to freeze its accounts," a government statement read.
Earlier today, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's tweet triggered a controversy after she said that the bank accounts of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity have been suspended at the behest of the central government, which would leave 22,000 patients and people without any treatment and food.
The news was confirmed by Banerjee, who said, “Shocked to hear that on Christmas, Union Ministry FROZE ALL BANK ACCOUNTS of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity in India! Their 22,000 patients & employees have been left without food and medicines. While the law is paramount, humanitarian efforts must not be compromised(sic).”
The government statement further stated that it refused to renew the organisation's FCRA, or Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, licence on December 25 after it was alerted on certain "adverse inputs".
The statement read, "In consideration of these inputs on record, the renewal application of Missionaries of Charity was not approved. The FCRA registration of Missionaries of Charity was valid up to December 31, 2021."
According to a report by ABP, officials of the Charity in Kolkata said that they were aware of the order but refused to comment on the matter.
