PANAJI
The Goa Cashew Feni Distillers and Bottlers Association (GCFDBA) has hailed the notification of the ‘Goa Feni Policy, 2021’ and urged the state government to create a sponsored initiative to promote feni as the ‘State drink of Goa’.
Speaking at a media conference, Gurudatta Bhakta, president, GCFDBA expressed gratitude on behalf of the stakeholders of the cashew feni industry, and thanked Chief Minister Pramod Sawant for initiating the notification of the ‘Goa Feni Policy, 2021’.
“The notification of the Feni Policy in the state will lead to rapid intervention and important improvements which will positively impact the feni industry as a whole,” said Bhakta who recalled that it was late Manohar Parrikar, the then Chief Minister, who initiated the ‘Feni Policy’ and former CM Laxmikant Parsekar for giving feni the status of ‘Heritage Spirit of Goa’.
The GCFDBA had achieved success in creating awareness and raising standards for the betterment of cashew feni in Goa and worldwide. The commissioner of excise, Shashank Tripathi had paved the path for stakeholders to chalk out a roadmap for feni and former commissioner of excise, Menino D’Souza had initiated this process, mentioned Bhakta.
The team of Levinson Martins and Deepak Parab of the department of science and technology for initiating a geographical indication (GI) status for cashew feni, said Bhakta, adding, “The GI is an intellectual property right (IPR) provided by the government of India to protect cashew feni and its stakeholders from any attempt to infringe, appropriate or dilute the status of cashew feni as the ‘Heritage Drink of Goa’.”
Speaking on the occasion, Tukaram Haldankar, treasurer of GCFDBA sought the support of the State to help in exporting Goan cashew feni to other countries and states within India. “The state government must create a sponsored initiative to promote feni as the ‘State drink of Goa’. We want to take our Goan feni to the world,” Haldankar said.
Hansel Vaz, secretary, GCFDBA said that the feni industry directly injected revenue to all of Goa’s rural and marginal farmers and hinterland communities who operated without any government support or subsidy. “The present prevailing system is unique to the world and exclusive to Goa and allows communities to themselves remain self-sufficient by adding value, skill upgrade and reducing farm waste through cashew distillation. This approach is in sync with the prime minister’s philosophy of an ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ (self-reliant India),” Vaz said.
