Are we losing Grip / Relevance of GI (Geographical Indication) Tags? Is it Time to Revive and Consciously Develop More Tags? The origin of Rasagola is now tagged to Odisha!!

 Dear Friends and Students

A geographical indication or GI is a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin (Hindu.com). Let me share a few examples- Tirupati Laddu,, Bobbili Veena, Kondapalli Toys, Venkatagiri Sari, Darjeeling tea, Madhubani paintings, Jaipur blue pottery, Mysore Silk, etc. In India, Karnataka has 47, Tamil Nadu (39), Kerala (22+), UP (21+), Odisha (15+), AP (14+),etc

How Powerful this Tag? For e.g., the exported tea from India fetching close to Rs. 45,000 once as it is labeled as ‘Darjeeling tea’! (www.thedollarbusiness.com). That is the power of GI Tag!

Having said, we need to consciously identify, promote, and materialize business using these GI Tags. Today IP Education is given widely in colleges. However, art and culture lie in many untapped locations/communities. There should be a massive exploration to identify all unknown tags in our rural and tribal locations.

Prof. Anil Gupta, a former professor at IIMB and Founder of SRISTI organizes Shodh Yatras to cull out grassroots innovations, art, and culture. Similarly, we should have GI Shodh Yatras to give visibility to some of the unexplored GIs in India. We also need to create a market ecosystem for these communities so that they preserve for generations.

Here I want to mention one specific case-study where this food item is claimed by two Indian states for a long time: It is “Rasagola”( soft to feel, juicy and non-chewy). This is claimed by West Bengal and Odisha. Finally, after a lot of deliberations, Odisha won the case (www.livemint.com). This mouth-watering culinary delight made of cottage cheese is offered to Lord Jagannath as part of bhog for centuries! How this claim was secured: Read this statement in Hindu “on December 14, 1893, a poem titled, ‘Bali Jatra’ was published in the weekly “Indradhanu” written by poet Damodar Pattanayak. The poem was an eye‐witness of Cuttack’s famous, historic fair, Bali Jatra (Journey to Bali Island of Indonesia), and mentioned that sweets shops were looking attractive in presence of Rasagola and other sweets.”

If we closely observe and read our scriptures/history, there are much more GIs hidden.

Do you remember any? We must be creating or preparing or making for centuries but did not tag them. Let’s us all protect our culture and its offshoots in the form of GI Tags.

Don’t hesitate to promote GI if you are part of any such tagged products.

Raise Head

Your well-wisher

Ravi Saripalle

Source Inspiration: https://www.jagranjosh.com/general-knowledge/list-of-geographical-indications-gi-tags-in-india-1589464565-1