KOLKATA: The Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity (MTMC) got back its Foreign Contribution Regulations Act (FCRA) licence on Saturday.
The Missionaries of Charity is a Kolkata based organisation which operates orphanages and shelters for the poor, sick, and destitute in India; its FCRA licence was not renewed by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) around Christmas.
The MHA move meant that foreign funds stopped flowing to the charity and thereby impacted its charity work. It was also not able to access foreign funds parked in over 250 accounts.
The MHA had reportedly found some adverse input following which it took the action.
The decision had led to a nation-wide controversy with Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee condemning the move.
As of now, the Centre has not made any statements in this respect.
According to sources, the MHA finally agreed to renew the licence after necessary documents were furnished with the concerned authorities.
Soon after it was restored, the TMC Rajya Sabha MP Sushmita Dev tweeted: "Service to mankind is the greatest service".
Derek O'Brien, another TMC MP, took to twitter to criticise the Centre.
"The FCRA registration is back. The 'adverse inputs' harassed so many and then disappeared in two weeks. The POWER OF LOVE is stronger than the power of 56 inch," read his tweets.
Congress MP Karti Chidambaram also attacked the Centre on Twitter following the renewal of the licence.
It is understood that a police complaint was lodged with the Gujarat Police against one unit of the MTMC. It was a children’s home and the complaint was against its director. It was alleged that a conversion racket was being run at the children’s home.
