A row erupted in Tamil Nadu after the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) directed a state-run brand to use the Hindi word ‘dahi’ on a curd (yoghurt) packet. The Tamil Nadu Cooperative Milk Producers Federation, popularly known as Aavin, their brand name, has refused to use the Hindi term in its printed label on the sachets and said that it would stick to the Tamil word 'tayir' to denote the product.
Lashing out at the central agency, Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin decried the move as an attempt to "impose Hindi" in the non-Hindi-speaking southern state. Stalin said those responsible for it would be "banished" from the southern parts of the country.
Dairy Development Minister SM Nasar admitted the government had received a letter asking it to implement the directive before August. The BJP's state unit also wanted the FSSAI to withdraw the notification. There is no place for Hindi in the State, Nasar said.
Meanwhile, a senior official at Aavin told PTI that 'tayir', the Tamil word for curd, is preferred by a majority of consumers in the state. The same has been communicated to FSSAI, the official asserted.
BJP state unit chief K Annamalai said the notification was not in tandem with the Centre's policy of promoting regional languages. "The notification released by FSSAI for the use of (the word) Dhahi in curd sachets produced by state-run cooperative societies is not in tandem with the policy of our Hon PM Thiru @narendramodi avl to promote regional languages. We want an immediate rollback of the notification," he tweeted.
Meanwhile, DMK functionaries trended the Twitter hashtag "DahiNahipoda" (No to Dahi, go on) to oppose "Hindi imposition." The party's IT Wing Secretary TRB Rajaa was among those who tweeted so.
Another attempt at Hindi imposition?
Not just in Tamil Nadu, but similar directions were given by the FSSAI to Karnataka Milk Federation to use "dahi" on the label and the Kannada equivalent for curd "mosaru" in brackets.
Tamil Nadu CM Stalin shared a Bengaluru datelined news report on his Twitter handle about the FSSAI’s insistence on using “dahi” on curd sachets of popular local brand Nandini.
The report said that the notification was issued in response to representations from the Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka milk federations that sought the usage of local nomenclatures on curd sachets.
Tamil Nadu Cooperative Milk Producers Federation was also told to use the Tamil words "tair" or "tayir" in brackets next to “dahi”.
FSSAI revises notice
After facing backlash from multiple states, the FSSAI has issued a fresh notification over the nomenclature issue. In a press release, the agency said, “As many representations were received recently on omission of the term ‘curd, from the Standards of Fermented Milk Products, it has been decided that FBOs may use the term Curd along with any other designation (prevalent regional common name) in brackets on the label’.”
