A day after West Bengal went gaga over receiving the official recognition that Rasagola originated in that State, the Geographical Indication (GI) Registry on Wednesday made it clear that the tag was given only for ‘Banglar Rasogolla’.
A GI official clarified that no such tag can be given for Rasgola as a whole as it is only a generic term and that Odisha could also make an application for such a recognition.
“Bengal had applied for GI tag for “Banglar Rasogolla”. After a thorough examination it was granted. The GI tag has been given for the rasogolla that is made in Bengal,” GI Senior Examiner Prashanth Kumar told media.
As per the GI Registry website, the GI number 533 was registered on November 14 in the name of the West Bengal State Food Processing and Horticulture Development Corporation limited (WBSFPHDCl) with respect to “Banglar Rasogolla”. The WBSFPHDCl had filed the relevant application to the GI registry on September 18, 2015.
Kumar said, “Rosogolla is a generic term. People can add prefix and suffix to it to get the GI tag. But there can be no GI tag for Rosogolla -- the sweet -- as a whole because there can be Nagpur Rosogolla, or Bikaner Rosogolla. It depends on the process, the composition, etc. and etc”.
One can take the case of Ikat for instance. The Odisha Ikat silk was given the GI tag in 2007. But there can be other varieties of Ikat in other geographical locations that can get the tag if they apply with proper documentation, said Kumar.
In the wake of West Bengal’s Rasgola getting GI tag, the Odisha Government came in for sharp criticism from various quarters for not applying before the GI Registry even though a report substantiating the origin of the sweet has been prepared by historians and submitted before it.
A high-level officials’ meeting of the Odisha Government was held on Wednesday, following which MSME secretary lN Gupta said, “It has been decided to file an application for ‘Odishara Rasagola; with the GI Registry.”
The dispute began in 2015 when Odisha claimed that Rasagola originated in the State 600 years ago and was first served at the 12th-century lord Jagannath Temple in Puri.
The State Government set up three committees to look into the evidence regarding the origin of Rasagola in the State and claimed that the sweet was first made at Pahelgram close to Bhubaneswar.
Countering Odisha’s claim, the West Bengal Government applied for GI tag from the GI Registry in Chennai, asserting there was “ample” documentary evidence to prove that the sweet belongs to Bengal and was invented by famous sweetmeat maker Nabin Chandra Das in 1868.