Fact check: Centre did not freeze bank accounts of 'Missionaries of Charity'
A post claiming that the central government has frozen the bank accounts of `Missionaries of Charity' across India has gone viral on social media.
By Newsmeter Network
Hyderabad: A post claiming that the central government has frozen the bank accounts of `Missionaries of Charity' across India has gone viral on social media.
A Facebook user shared a news report which reads, "Bank accounts of Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity frozen across India: reports."
Click here to view the post.
Fact Check
NewsMeter found the claim to be false.
The central government rejected the Missionaries of Charity's license renewal application under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) on 25 December 2021. An official press release said the decision was taken by the central government for non-compliance with the eligibility criteria under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 2010, and the Foreign Contribution Regulation Rules (FCRR) 2011.
It was in this context that the Missionaries of Charity informed all their branches in the country not to operate bank accounts related to foreign donations until the issue of license renewal was resolved. The Missionaries of Charity also wrote a letter to the State Bank of India asking them to freeze their bank accounts.
However, the central government misinterpreted these developments. The news went viral as Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also misunderstood the issue and tweeted that the central government had frozen the Missionaries of Charity bank accounts.
As the news went viral, the Union Home Ministry issued a press note clarifying the same. The Home Ministry made it clear that the Missionaries of Charity bank accounts were not frozen. Only the agency's renewal application was rejected. The note also said that the Missionaries of Charity had asked the State Bank of India to freeze their company's accounts.
https://pib.gov.in/
Missionaries of Charity said the central government has not frozen their bank accounts. In fact, they asked them to freeze the accounts of their centers.
Hence, the claim is false. The central government did not freeze the bank accounts of the Missionaries of Charity.
