Students of the Nani Bhattacharjee Memorial College in Jaigaon will have the opportunity to have a practical experience of the tea-making process in the Dooars and will simultaneously conduct a study on the socio-economic condition of a section of the tea population and carry out social welfare activities for them.

Earlier this week, the college authorities signed an MoU (memorandum of understanding) with Merico Tea Company Limited. The private company owns the Birpara tea estate in the Birpara-Madarihat block of the district.

Jaigaon is a town that sits on the Indo-Bhutan border in Alipurduar district.

Binoy Kumar Patel, a college faculty member, said the two-year agreement had been signed as part of the college-industry linkage according to the guidelines of the University Grants Commission (UGC).

“The UGC has recommended that colleges collaborate with any industry so that students can gather practical experience. In our area, tea is the main industry and students must know the process of tea making. That is why we signed the agreement with the management of the Birpara tea estate,” said Patel.

He said according to the agreement, groups of students would visit the garden regularly to learn how tea is made. The college has around 2,000 students.

“A group of 60 students visited Birpara tea estate a couple of days ago. They were there throughout the day to gather practical knowledge about the entire process,” said the teacher.

According to him, along with learning the process, the students will also survey the socio-economic condition of the people living in the garden.

“They will collate their findings which would be shared with the garden management and at other necessary quarters so that necessary interventions can be made for the socio-economic development of the local population. The students will also take up different social welfare activities for them,” he added.

Surojit Bakshi, the director of Merico, said: “These days, many people, especially youngsters, have lost interest in the tea industry. We hope this initiative will help students know about the sector."