GI Registry asks Bengal to prove that it owns ‘Banglar Rosogolla’

Geographical Indication (GI) Registry called West Bengal government for a September hearing on an Odisha petitioner’s complaint that Bengal furnished false evidence and data in order to claim that it owns ‘Banglar Rosogolla’.

Odisha’s Ramesh Chandra Sahoo, who heads an NGO called Regional Development Trust, had in February 2018 questioned the basis following which the Chennai based GI Registry granted ‘Banglar Rosogolla’ Geographical Indication (GI) tag in November 2017.

The Chennai regulator now wants the Bengal government to appear before it and prove its case, failing which, the registry will decide the matter on the basis of law and documents before it.

Sahoo says, he had demanded cancellation of the GI tag given to Banglar Rasogolla. But as he challenged the decision, “the GI Registry awarded GI tag to Odisha Rasagola (on July 29) to stem the discontentment,” he said.

Sahoo does not agree that Bengal’s Rosogolla is a distinct creation. Like many others in Odisha, he claims that the syrupy, cottage cheese-based sweet originated in the Jagannath Temple in Puri in the 12th century and was carried to Bengal by Odia cooks fleeing the famine of 1866.

READ: Puri beach gets Blue Flag certification, first beach in Asia