NEW DELHI, Aug 17 � The Centre has ruled out the possibility of getting Geographical Indication (GI) registered for eri silk of Assam citing its production in few others States.
Though Assam is a major producer of eri silk in India, it is also produced in many other States like Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland, Arunchal Pradesh, Mizoram, West Bengal, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh, among others.
Therefore, getting GI registered for eri silk of Assam does not arise, Union Minister for Textile, Anand Sharma said in a Rajya Sabha reply to a question by Bhubaneswar Kalita.
However, Assam Government has managed to get GI for Muga silk. The Government of Assam has taken steps to get GI for muga silk of Assam in 2007. The Registrar of GI of Government of India, Chennai has made an entry in Part-A of the GI on July 13, 2007 certifying that, the Assam Science Technology and Environment Council, Guwahati is the registered proprietor of the GI for Muga Silk Assam, the Minister added.
The Central Silk Board under the Ministry of Textiles is implementing �Silk Mark� scheme, though the Silk Mart Organisation of India for popularising the products made of pure silk to protect the interest of consumers.
Silk Mark is applicable to all the silk products, made of pure silk covering all varieties of silk including Mulberry, Tasar and Muga. However, there is no specific mark for Muga or any other particular variety of silk, Sharma added.
