St Fidelis Province North India desired to establish a house in the Diocese of Raigarh–Ambikapur as early as 1977, when the jurisdiction was still known as the Agra-Lucknow Mission and had not yet become even a vice province. In commitment to the mandate of the Provincial Chapter of 2002, two friars were sent to begin a house in the diocese. Rt Rev Victor Kindo, the then Bishop of Raigarh, offered Haldijharia, an interior village mission station about 60 km west of Kunkuri, for this new capuchin presence in the diocese.​

      On 30 June 2002, Haldijharia was erected officially, as a parish, with Br John Joseph D’Almeida, OFM Cap., appointed as its first parish priest and Br Amrit Minj, OFM Cap., as his assistant, and the new fraternity was named Padre Pio Ashram. Haldijharia is in the district of Jashpur was in the diocese of Raigarh-Ambikapur, after the bifurcation of the diocese, it now falls under the Diocese of Jashpur in Chhattisgarh. The parish comprises eight Catholic villages with a Catholic population of over 2,000 faithful.​

      The intention of the Province in establishing a Capuchin presence in this locality was not only to care for the spiritual needs of the Catholic faithful but also to promote the holistic development of the people. In 2005, a local Hindi-medium school was opened to educate the children of the surrounding villages. Since the inhabitants are financially poor and road facilities were inadequate, the friars also decided to open a hostel for the children.​

      Over the years, the school has been upgraded to a high school and is now known as Vandana High School. The school has become a beacon for the present generation, offering better educational opportunities and new hope to the children of this region.​