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By APD writer Rishika Chauhan
**NEW DELHI, November 16 (APD)- **The years long tussle between the provinces of West Bengal and Odisha about the origin of a famous Indian dessert called rasgulla, finally came to an end this week.
On Tuesday, the Geographical Indications (GI) registry declared that rasgulla originated in West Bengal, and not in Odisha.
About the decision, Sanjay Bhattacharya, the deputy controller of patents and designs in Kolkata, explained, “This has been settled under the GI Act that authenticates products to either geographical locations or to communities or societies.”
Through twitter the West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said, “Sweet news for us all. We are very happy and proud that Bengal has been granted GI status for rasgulla. ”
Abdur Rezzak Mollah, food-processing minister in West Bengal added, “Earlier, we fought successfully with other provinces to get the GI registration for the Joynagarer Moa, a popular winter snack made of puffed rice and palm jiggery.”
According to a Hindustan Times report, since 2015, disagreements about the origin of the sweet-dish had been on the rise as Odisha’s science and technology minister Pradip Kumar Panigrahi had said that, “More than one committee set up to trace the origin of the sweet had pointed to conclusive evidence that rasgulla existed in the province for about 600 years.”
While, West Bengal government responded by quoting 19-century history, stressing that a famous sweetmeat maker named Nabin Chandra Das, invented the rasgulla in their province in 1868.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
