Nayagarh: The move to accord geographical indication (GI) tag to ‘Chhenapoda’, the famous sweetmeat of this district, has been pushed into uncertainty with the state government and a social outfit spearheading the movement pulling in opposite directions, a report said.
Reports said that the proposal has been lying in cold storage also due to lack of support of the Union government.
This has happened as the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry is yet to make any move despite submission of all necessary documents for grant of GI tag.
The file is gathering dust in the DPIIT while an outfit spearheading the movement for GI tag has been maintaining silence due to coronavirus induced lockdown. All taken together have proved serious setback in according GI tag for the famous sweetmeat.
A social outfit ‘Shanti Charitable Trust’ has been spearheading a movement for grant of GI tag to Nayagarh Chhenapoda and other indigenous items of the district. The trust president Pramod Pattnaik claimed to have submitted all necessary documents at the district ORMAS office which later redirected the documents to the DPIIT.
However, Praveen Kumar Jha, chief executive of ORMAS, Nayagarh rejected the claims. He said not to have received any proposal for according GI tag to Chhenapoda and other indigenous items.
Sources said that the credit for inventing Chhenapoda goes to Sudarshan Sahu of Satapatna village in Daspalla block. Sahu shot into prominence after he invented the famous sweetmeat.
His ‘Chhenapoda’ soon found many takers and former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and former Chief Minister Biju Patnaik showered praises on him after tasting the sweetmeat. Sahu is no more but his famous Chhenapoda has become a household name. Over 230 families in the district are earning their livelihood by preparing Chhenapoda. Such is the taste of Chhenapoda that the sweetmeat is daily transported to Sundargarh, Berhampur, Rourkela, Keonjhar, Sambalpur, Koraput, Rayagada, Baliguda, Joda, Barbil and Jharsuguda in buses.
The trust president organised a press meet and demanded GI tag for the famous sweetmeat. He was soon joined by some eminent residents following which the state Science and Technology department asked him to submit all necessary documents in support of their claims at the district ORMAS office.
Later, the trust members submitted all necessary documents at the ORMAS office demanding GI tag for Chhenapoda and six other items of the district.
When contacted, Patnaik said that the movement for GI tag to Chhenapoda will be intensified after the lockdown is lifted in the country.
A Chhenapoda cook Antaryami Behera of Macchipada village said that the efforts in according GI tag to Chhenapoda should be intensified.