BHUBANESWAR: The Industries Department has decided to seek the help of Central Tool Room and Training Centre (CTTC), an autonomous body under the Ministry of MSME, to prepare a roadmap for application of Geographical Indication (GI) status for Odisha rasagolla.
This was decided on Wednesday at the first meeting of the eight-member committee that was formed by the State Government to finalise the process to apply for the GI status. Additional Director of Industries Department Niranjan Sahoo, who is convener of the committee, said the evidence that Government has to prove that rasagolla originated in Odisha is mostly literature based. “This is not sufficient for application of GI tag for rasagolla. Hence, we have decided to approach the CTTC which has the expertise in this area,” Sahoo said.
The eight-member panel is headed by Industry Director and comprises officers from Science and Technology Department, Culture and Agriculture Department. This apart, the State Government had decided to form a rasagolla cluster at Pahala, on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar, prior to application of GI tag. An amount of `7.70 crore will be spent for the purpose.
Earlier, the State Government has asked the Science and Technology Department to apply for the patent and GI status for the sweetmeat and it had formed a committee to research on origin of rasagolla.
Eminent scholar of Jagannath Culture Asit Mohanty, who was a member of the research committee, prepared a 100-page report in which he cited that rasagolla existed in Odisha since 15th-16th century as has been mentioned in the ‘Dandi Ramayana’, a version of the epic adapted by Balaram Das. The report claimed that the sweet was being offered to gods in mutts and temples for over 600 years. The report also stated that the syrupy delicacy was offered to Goddess Laxmi by Lord Jagannath to appease Her at the time of Niladri Bije ritual in which the deities are brought inside the Jagannath temple from their chariots on the concluding day of the Rath Yatra.
The West Bengal Government has already applied for GI status for rasagolla with the National Biodiversity Authority in Chennai to claim that the delicacy originated in the State.