The Union Home Ministry has denied renewing the FCRA enrollment of Missionaries of Charity (MoC), a Catholic religious congregation set up by Nobel laureate Mother Teresa, as “some adverse inputs were noticed”. Registration of 5,933 NGOs under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) lapsed on December 31, 2021, either for failure to apply for renewal before the due date or the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) rejecting their applications. Oxfam India Trust and Indian Medical Association (IMA) are among these organizations.

What is FCRA 2010

Foreign funding of persons in India is governed under FCRA Act and is implemented by the Ministry of Home Affairs. Individuals are authorized to accept foreign contributions without the permission of MHA. However, the financial limit for approval of such foreign contributions shall be less than Rs. 25,000. The Act ensures that the recipients of foreign contributions stick to the stated objective for which such contribution has been collected.

Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Act, 2020

Ban to accept foreign funds: The Act bars public servants from receiving foreign contributions. Public servant includes any person who is in service or pay of the government or remunerated by the government for the performance of any public duty.

Transfer of foreign contribution: The Act restricts the transfer of foreign contribution to any other person not registered to accept foreign contributions.

Aadhaar for registration: The Act makes Aadhaar number mandatory for all office bearers, directors, or key functionaries of a person receiving a foreign contribution, as an identification document.

FCRA account: The Act states that foreign contribution must be received only in an account assigned by the bank as an FCRA account in such branches of the State Bank of India, New Delhi.

Reduction in use of foreign contribution for administrative purposes: The Act proposes that not more than 20% of the total foreign funds received could be defrayed for organizational payments. In FCRA 2010 the limit was 50%.

Surrender of certificate: The Act allows the central government to permit a person to surrender their registration certificate.

Supreme Court on FCRA :

It has asked the government why the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has been tasked to keep an eye on the inflow and subsequent outflow of foreign funds to NGOs under the foreign contributions regulations law.

Need for regulation: Intelligence Bureau (IB) inputs have shown that foreign funds entering India were used to fund activities that destabilise national peace and security. The inputs even indicated that the money was used to train naxals. There is an element of national security, integrity of the nation involved here.

According to the CBI, Only about 10 per cent of the over 22 lakh non-government organisations file their annual income and expenditure statements with the authorities they are registered with.

Missionaries of Charity
Foreign funding for the Missionaries of Charity (MoC), an internationally renowned charitable organization that was founded by Nobel laureate Mother Teresa back in 1950, has come under a cloud. The MoC has performed yeoman service in India and abroad over the decades, helping the poor and the abandoned — be it homeless refugees, persons with special needs, the elderly ,or victims of floods, epidemics ,and famines. The healing touch has given millions of destitute people a new lease of life.

Mother Teresa :all you need to know UPSC ias exam (important)

Mother Teresa was born on August 26, 1910. Mother Teresa came to India in 1929 and worked for the welfare of the poorest of the poor as well as the homeless, orphan children and people dying from terminal illness such as HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis.

Mother Teresa Missionary

• Mother Teresa had founded Missionaries of Charity, which mainly looks after people who are dying of HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis.

Mother Teresa India

Mother Teresa came to India in 1929 at the age of 19 years and began her novitiate, a period of training that a Christian member of a religious order undergoes before taking vows to discern whether he or she is called to vowed religious life, in Darjeeling.

The Bengal famine of 1943 had brought death and misery to the city and the August 1946 Direct Action Day marked the beginning of Hindu-Muslim violence in the state.

Mother Teresa experienced “the call within the call” on September 10, 1946, when she was traveling to the Loreto convent in Darjeeling by train from Calcutta for her annual retreat. It made Mother Teresa realize that she was to leave the convent and help the poor while living among them.

Mother Teresa began her missionary work with the poor in 1948 and she replaced her traditional attire with a simple, white cotton sari with a blue border.

Mother Teresa then applied for Indian citizenship and spent several months in Patna to attain basic medical training at the Holy Family Hospital and then took off into the slums.

Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity in 1950 to help the poorest among the poor. The charity took in an increasing number of homeless children.

Mother Teresa was joined in her effort by a group of young women at the beginning of 1949. Mother Teresa’s efforts quickly caught the attention of Indian officials including the Indian Prime Minister.

In 1952, Mother Teresa converted an abandoned Hindu temple into the Kalighat, a home for the Dying, free for the poor. The home was renamed as Kalighat, the Home of the Pure Heart (Nirmal Hriday). Those brought to the home not only were given adequate medical attention but also the opportunity to die with dignity in accordance with their faith.

Teresa later opened a hospital for those with leprosy, calling it Shanti Nagar (City of Peace) and also established leprosy-outreach clinics throughout Calcutta through Missionaries of Charity. She also opened Nirmala Shishu Bhavan, the Children’s Home of the Immaculate Heart, as a haven for orphans and homeless youth.

Mother Teresa passed away on September 5, 1997 after braving cardiac problems, surviving two heart attacks, broken collar bone, pneumonia and malaria.