The Uttar Pradesh cabinet has assigned soya chaap and pickled chillies to Ghaziabad and bakery items to Gautam Budh Nagar under its 'one district, one cuisine' (ODOC) initiative. The scheme, which aims to promote district-specific cuisines across the state, was approved with a budget of Rs 150 crore.
Scheme Background and Launch
First announced by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in December last year, the ODOC scheme was launched by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Lucknow on January 24 during Uttar Pradesh Day celebrations. The state cabinet formally cleared the scheme on Monday.
Modelled on the 'one district, one product' (ODOP) initiative, ODOC aims to promote local delicacies through branding, packaging, and marketing. It covers 208 vegetarian cuisines across 18 divisions and 75 districts. Officials told The Times of India that entrepreneurs will receive a 25% subsidy on branding and packaging, with financial assistance of up to Rs 20 lakh per beneficiary.
Signature Cuisines Across Districts
Among the other signature cuisines are Agra's petha, Mathura's peda, Meerut's gajak, Lucknow's makhan malai, Varanasi's tiranga barfi, and regionally popular Ayodhya's khurchan peda and jalebi, Barabanki's chandrakala, Banda's sohan halwa, Shravasti's imarti, and Jalaun's gujhiya. Sought-after sweets in small towns such as Baghpat's ghewar, Lalitpur's doodh ka halwa, and Kushinagar's lal khorma also figure in the list. Jaggery made in different districts of western UP is also included.
Samosa and Chaat Districts
The districts known for samosas include Prayagraj, Kanpur Nagar, Gorakhpur, Varanasi, and Jhansi. Districts famous for mouth-watering chaat include Lucknow, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Kanpur Nagar, Kasganj (known for its moth ki chaat variant), and Gorakhpur.
Criticism from Food Experts
Food critics have questioned the selections, noting that neither soya chaap nor pickled chillies carry strong historical ties to Ghaziabad or Gautam Budh Nagar.
Food expert Sohail Hashmi remarked, "Soya chaap is a relatively new dish, not more than 30 years old. Ghaziabad sits in the sugarcane belt. Rasawal, prepared from fresh sugarcane juice and rice, is still consumed in villages across the district and would have been far more apt." He added that pickled chillies are more an appetiser than a cuisine, and that the scheme's exclusion of non-vegetarian dishes does it a disservice. "The food culture of the Braj region, including Mathura and Vrindavan, and Delhi have both shaped Ghaziabad's culinary identity over 300 years. Kachori, lassi, laddoo, and non-vegetarian dishes from Delhi's influence are far more representative," he said.
On Gautam Budh Nagar, Hashmi was more measured: "Noida is a relatively new industrial city, and bakery and cake items have gained popularity there over the last 40 years. The selection is not without logic, though it is not entirely justified either."
Official Clarification
Officials clarified that the scheme was never intended as a culinary heritage exercise. "The idea is to promote local delicacies alongside their marketing and branding, and to benefit economically disadvantaged sections involved in these food trades. The entire ecosystem stands to gain. Viewing it purely through the lens of traditional cuisine is not the right lens," a district administration official said.
