US-based Timken Foundation of Canton will partner with the Jharkhand government in setting up a job-oriented educational centre for the tribals, a National Institute of Ethnomedicine and Mahua Flower Institute in the state.

Chairman and managing director of Timken India Limited Sanjay Koul, treasurer of Timken Foundation of Canton Henry H. Timken and president of Torang Trust Basavi Kiro met Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren in Ranchi on Saturday.

A statement issued by the chief minister’s secretariat said Hemant had assured of “all possible help to Timken Foundation of Canton and Torang Trust in setting up an institution for job-oriented education for tribals, a National Institute of Ethno-Medicine and a Mahua Flower Institute”.

“It was a very positive discussion and the chief minister was very happy to note the work done by Timken India Limited and the foundation for the development of the tribal community in the state, especially in the education sector. The Timken India Limited official also expressed a desire to expand their footprints in other districts of Jharkhand,” the statement added.

Kiro, who is also a former chairperson of Jharkhand Women’s Commission, told The Telegraph that the National Institute of Ethno-Medicine and the Mahua Flower Institute would come up on nearly 100 acres in Namkum block of Ranchi along the NH-33 connecting Ranchi with Jamshedpur.

Ethnomedicine is the study of traditional medicine of ethnic communities, their knowledge and practices that were transmitted orally over centuries and evolved with time. The indigenous people of India till date use their medicaments defined as the use of plants in the treatment of diseases.

Mahua flowers are used by the tribals to make country liquor. However, Mahua flowers are also used in making sanitiser and a variety of Mahua products, including laddoos, juice, cookies, chocolate, pickle and jam.