FCRA Rejection For Missionaries Of Charity
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
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By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2021-12-28 05:35:39
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Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
View all posts by this Author
On the face of it, the rejection of the FCRA renewal application of Missionaries of Charity for certain irregularities should not have raised such controversy as all entities are expected to completely adhere to the laws in force and the government is fully within its rights to reject any application if it finds that it does not comply with the law.
But as the NDA government has been tightening the screws on foreign funding of NGOs with a particular bias, the action, especially as it was announced on Christmas day, has attracted criticism. Further, since the Missionaries of Charity was started by Nobel laureate Mother Teresa and attracts huge foreign funding from all over the world, there will be international ramifications.
Also, the organization runs more than 240 homes in India. These homes provide care for the sick, the elderly, the orphans and the homeless. It had also provided exemplary service during the lockdowns. It also has more than 5000 nuns serving the community. If funds are blocked - and it runs mainly on foreign funding - these activities will come to a halt and within a short period, it will not be able to provide food to the residents, let alone take their care.
The NDA government has alleged that NGOs receive foreign funding and then use the funds to carry out nefarious activities like religious conversions or even use those funds for terrorist activities. Hence, it has been making FCRA rules stricter. There is nothing wrong with that. Charities must always use the funds received for the purpose which they are donated. But targeting minority-run NGOs, especially the ones that are doing exemplary social service for the last so many years is wrong. Instead of rejecting the application of Missionaries of Charity, the government could have put it on hold and asked for clarifications. It could have passed it on receiving satisfactory answers.
Latest update: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has clarified and the Missionaries of Charity have also issued a press release stating that their bank accounts were not frozen by the government. MHA has also stated that the organization has not asked for a review of the rejection neither has it applied afresh.
