Attached to the Basilica is the old Bishops Palace. This has become St Joeseph's Convent. It is run by the Congregation of Jesus and Mary, the first order of nuns to be established in North India. It has been recognised for excellence and is now a B.A.College attached to the University of Meerut. The students are fee paying; they are beautifully turned out. It would be quite impossible for poor girls to attand if they were not supported by the church.
	For this purpose there is a Girls Hostel. These girls are from very poor families, often orphans or abandoned girls. Girls are not popular in poor Hindu families because it Is not possible for them to provide the essential dowry if they are to be married. Others are the children of lepers. Yet more are from the poorest of families.
			Not only do the sisters who run the hostel have great difficulty in raising enough money to feed their charges, but they are faced with severe problems in making the hostels habitable.There are 150 girls in the hostels, who have to be dressed in the school uniform. The annual food bill exceeds £3million rupees, and there is an urgent need for sanitary and storage facilities which will cost 160,000 Rs.