The chief minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik, on Tuesday sanctioned Rs 78.76 lakhs from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund(CMRF) to provide financial assistance to 13 institutions run by the Missionaries of Charity(MoC) in the state.
“Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik has sanctioned ₹78.76 lakh from the CMRF to support 13 institutions run by the Missionaries of Charity in the state,” the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said, according to news agency ANI.
CM has sanctioned assistance for 13 institutions run by MoC spreading over 8 districts. More than 900 inmates in various leprosiums and orphanages in the state will be benefited by this decision: CMO, Odisha
— ANI (@ANI) January 4, 2022
Patnaik’s office further noted that the assistance was for MoC institutions across eight districts of the state. “More than 900 leprosariums and orphanages in the will benefit from this decision,” it said.
The development came in the wake of the reports of the District Collectors who were instructed by Mr Patnaik to stay in touch with the institutions run by the MoC. Last week, on December 30, Patnaik had asked all collectors to ensure that no inmate of the institutions run by the Missionaries of Charity suffers, especially from food security and health-related issues.
However, the opposition party BJP in Odisha slammed the chief minister for providing monetary assistance to organisations that had questionable credentials. “It is known that the MoC-run institutions are involved in shady activities. Religious conversion in the garb of humanitarian activities of the MoC is an open secret,” said Sajjan Sharma, leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
“The Odisha CM has been selective in his benevolence. The FCRA renewal application of many non-government organisations working in Odisha has been rejected. Will the CM sanction financial assistance to all affected institutions? This is motivated action,” added Sharma, raising a pertinent point that will the CM relief fund be open to all non-government organisations operating in Odisha.
FCRA renewal application of Missionaries of Charity(MoC) rejected for not meeting eligibility conditions
It is worth noting that Missionaries of Charity(MoC) were denied permission to renew its FCRA registration under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) and their renewal application was rejected on the grounds of not meeting eligibility conditions under FCRA 2010 & Foreign Contribution Regulation Rules (FCRR), 2011. A controversy erupted last week after West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee claimed that the Centre had frozen all bank accounts of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity.
However, the MoC refuted Banerjee’s claims stating that the centre did not freeze their bank accounts. The group said its FCRA registration is neither cancelled nor suspended. Further, there is no freeze ordered by the MHA on any of the bank accounts, MoC said.
“We have been informed that our FCRA renewal application has not been approved. Therefore, as a measure to ensure there is no lapse, we have asked our centres not to operate any of the FC accounts until the matter is resolved,” MoC said in a statement.
