Home Ministry woke up on Christmas and found issues in Missionaries of Charity’s FCRA application: TMC

India Today's Rajdeep Sardesai brought TMC's Saket Gokhale, BJP's Priyanka Tibrewal and Christian theologian Valson Thampu together for a discussion on the Missionaries of Charity row that erupted on Monday.

A controversy erupted on Monday after allegations were made that the bank accounts of Mother Teresa’s organisation Missionaries of Charity had been frozen by the Centre. It later emerged that the organisation’s application for renewal of its Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) registration had been refused by the government for not meeting eligibility conditions as some “adverse inputs” had been received. As a result, the organisation is not operating its foreign currency accounts.

The issue has become the centre of a political battle between the ruling BJP and the opposition TMC. While the TMC is alleging that the Centre is targeting Christian institutions, the BJP has claimed the Opposition is politicising the issue ahead of the Goa election to be held early next year.