 The Environment Ministry has banned people from selling cattle and buffalos for slaughter directly to cattle markets. This has made it very difficult for farmers to sell off their unproductive cattle. How will these actions by the government and fringe groups affect the cattle economy? Banning beef has been high upon the agenda of the BJP-led government, both at the centre and the many states they currently rule. Numerous incidents of violence have been seen over the last two-three years. Mohammad Akhlaq was lynched by a mob in Dadri because people believed he consumed beef. The Oona violence, where four Dalit youths were stripped and beaten for skinning a dead cow. Pehlu Khan was transporting cattle for his dairy farm when he was caught by a mob and killed because they thought he was a cattle smuggler. RSS leader Indresh Kumar recently made this statement. From Prophet Adam to the last Prophet, even the Prophet Mohammad's wife Ayesha Never ate ghost, meat is a disease, milk is the cure and treatment. Perhaps a closer look at the reality of milk production is needed. Let's take a look at the life cycle of a cow in a dairy farm. A cow lives for 14 years. After about two years it birds calves and starts producing milk. For the next five years the milk yields are substantial. This is the most profitable period. In the next three years the yields go down and eventually the costs of feeding the cow outstrip the revenue from milk sales. After about 10 years the cow is unproductive. This is the time when the animal would be sold for slaughter. Apart from the meat which is eaten, the hide is used for making leather and the bones are used for producing gelatin which is used in products like capsules, candy, shampoos, makeup etc. All this applies to calves. If a male calf is born it has to be sold off quickly after it has grown because it has no utility. This farming has made bullocks more or less obsolete. Under the new rules the farmers would be stuck feeding and maintaining unproductive stock. This means that for every 10 cows that do produce milk the farmer would have to maintain at least 12 unproductive animals because they no longer have the option of selling them off. This would lead to any of the following three scenarios. The cost of milk doubles for the final consumer. This will price poor families out of the market for milk. Given the high percentages of undernourished children in India the consequences of this could be disastrous. Two, farmers withdraw from dairy farm. But over a period of time what will happen is it will make the farmer disinterested. Then I foresee a scenario where in about say 4-5 years of time you know India's milk production will come down because it's very simple. The farmers will stop raring. And in that case we will become a very big importer of milk powder and butter oil. Three, more cows on the road. If this happens every year more than two crore cattle will be added to the streets. The instances of stray animals eating garbage, blocking traffic and dying on the roads will increase significantly. If the government decides to build cow shalas for these stray cattle the lowest estimate is 22,000 crore rupees every year just to feed them. The housing, labour and land required for these projects would be on top. How many schools and hospitals can be set up and run with the same money? Cow is not going to survive in cow shalas. Cow shalas are as artificial as zoos. Cow is for the farm and farm is for the farmer. My belief is that 20 years from now if this policy continues there will be no cows left in North India.