In a bid to protect the interest of thousands of weavers and artisans of the State, Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi has directed the Handlooms, Textiles and Handicrafts Secretary Chithra Arumugam to take up GI Registration of unique textile products of the State with the Textile Committee.

The textile design products like Odisha Ikat and Sambalpuri Bandha saree, qualify for Geographical Indication (GI), for GI Registration. Experts in this sector feel that these products are associated to a particular geographical area and GI has been taken as one of the Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs).

Experts in the State strongly feel that IPR protection could save the niche market and livelihood of the weavers and artisans of the State associated with the product.

Accordingly, the State Government has decided to take up this initiative to protect the IPR of these unique products, said officials sources.

Ministry of Textiles recently constituted the Textiles Committee to support the weavers, artisans of hand woven and handcrafted textile products for protection of IPR of the unique textiles.

It is noteworthy that Odisha has been producing several unique textile products but they lack GI registration, said the sources.

Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreements signed under the Framework of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has included GI as one of the IPRs.

India, being a signatory to the agreement has also enacted GI Act, 1999 and Rule 2003 for protection of GI designated products of the country.