Mamata Banerjee accuses Centre of freezing Mother Teresa missionary’s bank accounts; home ministry denies

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, December 27

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused the central government of having frozen bank accounts belonging to Nobel Laureate Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity group of Roman Catholic missionaries, prompting the government to deny the allegation.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused the Centre of having blocked Nobel Laureate Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity group of Roman Catholic missionaries.

Banerjee said in a tweet: “Shocked to hear that on Christmas, Union Ministry FROZE ALL BANK ACCOUNTS of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity in India!”

“While the law is paramount, humanitarian efforts must not be compromised”.

The ministry said in a statement that it had been told by the State Bank of India that the request to freeze the accounts came from the Missionaries of Charity.

The statement also said that the home ministry had turned down an application for renewing FCRA on December 25 for not fulfilling requirements.

The missionary has yet to submit an application for review, the ministry said.

“However, while considering the MoC’s renewal application, some adverse inputs were noticed. In consideration of these inputs on record, the renewal application of MoC was not approved,” the statement said.

“The FCRA registration of MoC was valid up to December 31, 2021, and the MHA did not freeze any account of the MoC. The State Bank of India has informed that MoC itself sent a request to SBI to freeze its accounts,” the statement said.

The Missionaries of Charity is a Catholic religious congregation established in 1950 by Mother Teresa.

— With agencies