MUMBAI, India – An order of Catholic nuns has ended its affiliation with a school in India after it was taken over by the charity arm of a giant national corporation.
The Adani Foundation officially assumed management in September of Mount Carmel Convent School in Ghugus, located in the Chandrapur district of the state of Maharashtra, following a government resolution to transfer management of nine schools.
The Adani Foundation clarified this week the transfer of management after the Carmel Education Society discontinued its role in the managing the school.
The foundation is formed by the Adani Group, a commodity trading business that includes sea and airport management, electricity generation and transmission, mining, natural gas, food, weapons, and infrastructure.
The CBSE affiliated school was founded in 1972 by the sisters of the Congregation of Mother of Carmel in collaboration with the cement giant, ACC Ltd, which funded the school under the Corporate Social Responsibility program.
In June 2023, ACC Ltd requested Adani Foundation to take over the school. The Adani Foundation has already initiated several key improvements, including infrastructure development, enhanced teacher training, and student support services.
The school is self-financed and provides education from class 1 to class 12.
Sister Grace Therese is the Superior General of the Congregation of the Mother of Carmel (CMC).
“From the beginning of our congregation, we have our educational apostolate has been vital – especially education of girls in most rural areas and small townships besides urban areas, too,” she told Crux.
“Our schools give importance to value education and our zeal for the educational apostolate continues. This particular issue is under the control of the province. It is entirely their decision,” she said.
“Maharashtra opposition leaders have slammed the government over the Transfer Management Of Mount Carmel School To Adani Foundation.
In a post on X – formerly known as Twitter – member of the State Legislative Council, Ambadas Danve, said: “It seems Maharashtra, once a leader in education, is now learning from the Adani Group. After transferring lands and industries to Adani, the government is now giving away schools. This is a clear indication that the dispensation is selling off Maharashtra.”
Member Uddhav Thackeray said, “I believed Adani’s influence was limited to Mumbai, but now I learn that Mount Carmel School is being handed over to him. Can Adani be considered a national figure worthy of managing our schools?”
After Adani Foundation took over the school, nuns belonging to the Congregation of the Mother of Carmel demanded that the name “Mount Carmel” should not be retained.
Sister Leena, the former principal of the school, has been quoted as saying that the nuns decided to move out of the school as they did not want to work under the Adani Group, “which has commercial interests as their priority.”
“Their policy and our policy are totally different, so we have moved out,” she said, according to UCA News.
