After receiving GI tags (Geographically Indicated) for three more ODOP (One District, One Product) crafts — Mainpuri tarkashi, Mahoba Gaura stone craft, and Sambhal horn craft — with the technical assistance provided by the Varanasi-based NGO Human Welfare Association (HWA), Uttar Pradesh has surpassed all other states in having the most GI-tagged goods 48 in total.
GI tags are typically registered on goods made over generations by rural, marginal, and indigenous communities that have built a massive reputation at the national and international levels due to some of their distinctive qualities.
The One District, One Product (ODOP) Programme of the Yogi Adityanath Government aims to encourage and promote indigenous and specialized products and crafts.
Many of these ODOP products are GI-tagged, which means they are certified as being specific to that region in Uttar Pradesh. Many of these were also dying community traditions that are being revived through modernisation and publicisation.
Rajni Kant of HWA, a Padma Shri awardee and GI expert who assisted in the GI certification of three newly added ODOP crafts, said, “With this feat, UP, beating Karnataka, has become the second state with maximum (48) GI-tagged goods in the country. UP also has the maximum number of GI tags in handicrafts in the country”.
Tamil Nadu has the maximum number of 55 GI-tagged goods, followed by UP with 48 GI tags at the second number. However, UP ranks leading in terms of GI-tagged handicrafts with 36 crafts to its name, such as Gorakhpur Terracotta, Saharanpur wooden handicraft, Varanasi soft stone Jali work, etc. Out of the 23 GI-tagged items in the Varanasi region alone, 18 are handicrafts.
Kant added, “Uttar Pradesh is not only the biggest exporter of GI-tagged products but it also involves the largest number of manpower in this sector, making the highest annual turnover in the country”.
Through the ODOP programme, the Uttar Pradesh Government is trying to grow cottage and small industries by helping local workers increase their income through the branding of their products. The schemes under this programme are helping to generate employment and boost the state’s economy.
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