Indian Authorities and Mission Schools in the Aftermath of Independence: Jesuit Education in Chotanagpur, Bihar/Jharkhand, 1947–1960

Abstract

This article studies the relationship between the authorities of newly independent India and mission schools using the case of (and the perspective/sources from) the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in Chotanagpur (then South Bihar, now Jharkhand). These relationships were marked by much tension in the late 1940s and early 1950s. An abundance of issues—for instance on finances, appointments, recognition, and management—mirror the fight over the control of the mission schools. However, these debates faded in the late 1950s, inter alia because policy-makers became aware of the benefits of mission schools, both in efficiently educating and in collectively suppressing communism.