An organisation of food manufacturers in Indore, Madhya Pradesh is planning to seek GI tag or Geographical Indication tag for the popular 'Indori poha' and 3 other famous food items from Malwa region.
The 'Indori poha', a breakfast staple made from flattened rice flakes, 'laung sev' (a clove-flavoured snack), 'doodh se bani shikanji' (milk-based sweet drink) and 'khatta meetha namkeen' (sweet and sour dry snack) from the Malwa region are very popular amongst people and food connoisseurs all over the country.
Anurag Bothra, Indore Mithai Aur Namkeen Nirmata-Vikreta Vyapari Sangh secretary told news agency PTI that they are now considering to apply for the GI tag for these 4 food items.
He said, "We are collecting documents which can put some light on the local history of these foods in order to file an application with the Geographical Indication registry to obtain the nativity tag for these 4 food items".
Bothra claimed that "Food lovers enjoy these food items. We have an old photograph in which former Prime Minister Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru is seen enjoying poha. Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan on different occasions has also praised the taste of Indori poha".
However, getting the GI tag is not an easy task and lots of effort is needed along with proofs to apply at the Geographical Indication registry office, Chennai.
In the meantime, the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Institute, Indore is also helping this food manufacturers' & sellers' body in seeking the GI tag for these 4 dishes. Assistant director of the Institute, Mr. Neelesh Trivedi said if these 4 Malwa region staples receive GI tag then their businesses will get global recognition.
Last year the Export-Import (EXIM) Bank of India in a report had recommended that the state government initiate the process for getting GI tags for the 'Indori poha' & other traditional dishes.
To recall, sweet dishes like 'peda' from Dharwad (Karnataka) and 'Banglar Rasgulla' (West Bengal) have already got the GI tags. In 2018, the famous 'Kadaknath' chicken meat from MP’s Jhabua district also got the GI tag.
