Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The Geographic Indication (GI) of India is ‘Sone Ki Chidiya (Golden bird),’ said Padma Shri Rajni Kant, a GI expert from Delhi.
He was speaking at a seminar on 'Geographic Indications: Challenges and the Way Forward’ organised by Vanya Prakashan of the Tribal Affairs Department at Kushabhau Thakre International Centre (Minto Hall) in the city on Friday.
Rajni Kant further said that Sone Ki Chidiya is also the soul of India and efforts are being made to preserve and enhance it. “For this purpose, we have done GI registration of 75 products from across the country under Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. These GI products earlier used to contribute majorly to the country's GDP. People from the whole world used to come to India to do business,” he added.
Principal secretary, Tribal Affairs Department, Pallavi Jain Govil inaugurated the event. She said that the event was organised to take forward the effort to preserve the products, art and artefacts of tribal society. Tribal society is introverted so it is essential to preserve and protect the art and cultural heritage. “Our aim is to provide employment opportunities by recognising tribal culture and art with GI tags. At the same time, it is also necessary to make it accessible to the common people so that there are opportunities for research and economic benefits for the tribal people,” she added.
In this seminar, experts in the art sector and GI of the country and the state, art critics, officers of various government departments, artists, product manufacturers-sellers, etc. participated.
Principal Secretary Cottage and Village Industries Manu Srivastava, Tribal Affairs Department Commissioner Sanjeev Singh, Deputy Secretary Meenakshi Singh, MD Handicrafts Development Corporation Anubha Srivastava, Additional Commissioner KG Tiwari, Director TADP, Ravindra Singh Choudhary etc. were present.
GI Tagging of 7 products of MP
Meenakshi Singh, Deputy Secretary, Department of Tribal Affairs and Managing Director of Vanya, along with Dr. Tapan Kumar Raut of Textile Committee, Ministry of Textiles, Government of India signed GI tag applications for seven products of Madhya Pradesh. The work of GI tagging of products of different tribal areas is being done by Vanya. In the first phase GI tagging of Anuppur’s woodcraft (mask), Jhabua Gudiya, Shahdol, Anuppur and Dindori's tribal musical instruments Bana and Chikara, Dhar-Jhabua-Khargone-Barwani and Alirajpur’s Potmala and Galshan Mala is being done. This work is being done in collaboration with the Textile Committee, an undertaking of the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India.
Gondi song on rare tribal instrument Bana
Dharam Singh Varkade, a tribal artiste from Dindori, played the rare tribal instrument Bana. He presented the Gondi song sung in the honour of ancestors and tribal kings on the occasion during Pitra Paksha.
Exhibition of tribal and GI Tag products
An exhibition of tribal and other art products of Madhya Pradesh was also organised during the seminar. Pithora paintings, Bhili Galshan Mala, Pot Mala, wooden masks, Bhili Bridal Shringar Patti Bolni, Bell Metal, Chanderi Sarees, Bagh Sarees and Maheshwari Sarees were displayed. Some rare Gond musical instruments Bana Pardhan and Chikara Pardhan were also exhibited. Along with this, food products of tribal areas like Safed Musli, Kodo, Kutki and Kadki were on display.
Participants in seminar
Participants from the Textile Committee of Government of India, TRI, NABARD, TRIFED, TADP, Mapsat, University of Delhi, Handicrafts Development Corporation, National Law University, Feeds Law Chambers, Human Welfare Association etc. participated in the seminar.
