Mother Teresa's Charity To Get Financial Aid From Odisha Government

Donations couldn't meet the eligibility under India's law

The Odisha Government will support Mother Teresa's Charity with financial help. Mother Teresa's missionary of charity runs several leprosy homes and orphanages in Odisha.  The foreign financial aid gets blocked after the donations couldn't meet the eligibility criteria under Indian law.

According to the statement given by the Odisha chief minister, Naveen Patnaik said it will give Rupees 78.76 lakh from the chief minister's relief fund to 13 institutions run by the charity in Odisha.

He has asked all the district collectors to ensure that the funds reach 13 institutions run by the charity in eight districts, where over 900 people are being looked for.

"Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has asked district collectors to be in regular touch with organization's run by the missionaries of Charity in Odisha. He has directed them to ensure that no one in this organization suffers especially from food security and health-related distress. Whenever needed funds from the Chief Minister's relief fund can be used for this purpose," read the statement.

As per the information, the home ministry on December 25 rejected a request from missionaries of Charity to receive the funds from donors from abroad.

To use these funds, non-profit need clearance under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act for FCRA, but Mother Teresa's Charity had said their request to renew this license was rejected. To ensure that there is no lapse, the charity then asked its center not to operate any of the foreign contribution accounts until the matter was resolved.

The Home Ministry has denied that it had not frozen the bank account of missionaries of Charity, claiming, the State Bank of India (SBI) informed that the charity itself sent a request to the bank to freeze its accounts.

The Charity set up by the Noble prize winner in 1950 has its headquarters in Kolkata. It runs several leprosy homes and orphanages in Odisha.