WEB DESK
The FCRA licence for Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity has been restored, according to an entry in the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act website, two weeks after the Home Ministry cited “adverse inputs” to refuse a renewal request by the Kolkata-based organisation.
The loss of the license – needed to receive and use charitable contributions from abroad – left the group, which operates orphanages and shelters for the poor, sick, and destitute in India, unable to access foreign funds stored in over 250 accounts.
No statement has been made by the government so far, but news agency ANI said the licence was restored after “necessary documents (were submitted) to concerned department”.
Trinamool MP Derek O’Brien, who was one of several opposition leaders to slam the government over its cancelling of the FCRA licence, this morning tweeted “the power of love is stronger than the power of 56 inch” – an indirect swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“The FCRA registration for Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity 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,” he wrote.
Congress MP Karti Chidambaram tweeted: “FCRA nod for Missionaries of Charity restored – The Hindu. Guess public opinion and international reaction yielded this.”
The Missionaries of Charity’s FCRA licence was revoked on Christmas Day in a move that was widely condemned by many, including Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
The Home Ministry said it had not received a request to review its decision.