Governor Syed Sibtey Razi greets British High Commissioner Michael Arthur (middle) and his deputy Andrew Neil. Picture by Hardeep Singh

Ranchi, April 19: British High Commissioner Michael Arthur would like to see students from his country come to Jharkhand to study the tribal way of life to develop a proper idea of the region.

Talking to The Telegraph after his meeting with Governor Syed Sibtey Razi and vice-chancellors of state universities, Arthur said the flow of British students into India, particularly Jharkhand, would open a new chapter for them and also help boost the tourism in this part of the world.

Arthur, along with his deputy Andrew Neil, is on a two-day tour of the state.

?Britain is a huge source of tourists for India. A large number of people visit different parts of India every year and I hope quite a few of them come to this part of the country as well. A study of tribal life and culture will certainly be a niche venture for students from Britain, whose study of Jharkhand culture could be linked to the tourism industry,? he said.

Asked if his talks with the vice-chancellors would yield results, Arthur said: ?The vice-chancellors with whom I interacted today were extremely susceptible to new ideas. I feel extremely encouraged as they have flooded me with several proposals, advocating educational collaboration. We will see to it that some of those, particularly the students? exchange programme, materialise soon.?

The vice-chancellors of Ranchi University and Birsa Agricultural University discussed several issues, including academic exchange programmes and further research collaborations in specialised fields.

Ranchi University vice-chancellor S.S. Kushwaha said, ?While we look forward to sending our students to universities in the UK for specialised and professional courses, we also welcome students from that country to come to Jharkhand and study tribal life and culture.?

Kushwaha, who read out a brief report on the university, discussed a 14-point charter of proposals with the British officials. ?I have proposed two memorandums of understanding ? one on multi-disciplinary research in different streams of science, social science and humanities and another for the promotion of sporting activities between RU and universities in the UK,? he added.

Some of the other proposals included exchange programmes between officials of RU and universities in the UK and interaction with faculty members of vocational courses with special reference to resources in Jharkhand.

BAU vice-chancellor B.S. Dubey said, ?I specifically discussed four points, including an academic exchange programme for teachers and scientists, collaboration in research programmes on molecular biology, remote sensing, cloning and embryo transfer technology, among others.?

?Besides I proposed an exchange programme on curricular research for postgraduate students with focus on natural resource management, farm machinery, agro-forestry and the visit of university scientists for technological upgradation in frontier areas, including post-harvest technology, food processing, pharmaco-farming, disaster management and indigenous technical knowledge in agriculture,? he added.

Dubey said BAU has collaborated with an university in Wales on participatory plant breeding focused on paddy varieties resistant to drought, which had yielded three excellent crops, including two rice varieties, Birsa Vikas 109 and 110 and Birsa Vikas makka.