Odisha to form committees to counter Bengal's rosogolla claim

The Odisha government on Saturday decided to form three committees which will counter West Bengal's claim as the birthplace of rosogolla.

Both the states are fighting a gastronomic war over obtaining the Geographical Indication tag for rosogolla, a syrupy sweet.

Science and Technology Minister Pradeep Panigrahi said the government has decided to form three committees on September 21 to ascertain the place of origin of the sweet and counter West Bengal, which is taking steps for formally staking claim to rosogolla as the state's invention through the GI route.

The minister said the committees would have representatives from Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) and culture departments to prepare reports for officially claiming the origin of the syrupy sweet.

"The first committee would investigate the facts regarding the origin of rosogolla, the second would study the ground based on which West Bengal is staking its claim and the third would collect the necessary documents to support and validate Odisha's claim before the authority," said Panigrahi.

Rosogolla has been the centre of debate as both the state governments are trying to stake claim over its origin.

West Bengal is claiming that Nabin Chandra Das had introduced the sweet in 1868, while the Odisha government said the tradition of offering rosogolla by Lord Jagannath to Goddess Laxmi on the day of Niladri Bije (the day when the deities return to their abode after the annual Rath Yatra) is at least 300 years old indicating that it was much older than the 150-year history of Bengal's rosogolla.

The Geographical Indication identifies a product as originating from a particular location and conveys an assurance of quality and distinctiveness that is essentially attributable to the fact of its origin.