The desi mission of the NDA government has reached 'gaushalas', as the new Narendra Modi-led government has allotted a massive sum of Rs 500 crore to raise strictly 'desi' cows. This nationalistic scheme stems from the BJP manifesto, to protect and conserve local breeds of cows.

India, though being the largest producer of milk, is known for the quantity of cows rather than the high yield and quality of them. Thus the project, named 'Rashritya Gokul Mission', aims to promote locally bred cows as they are better suited for the Indian climate and are even heat resistant. Thus by switching to purely locally bred cows over cross-bred, it aims to increase the output of milk.

This scheme aims to even maintain the cows after they have passed their milk producing stage, to be utilised for meat. Even the cow dung and cow urine will be utilised. It will be promoted as organic manure and for other purposes, such as for biogas to produce electricity.

In order to make the farmers motivated towards the new scheme, those that maintain the best cow centres will be awarded "Gopal Ratna" awards. Each cow will be given a unique identity number and all the records will be maintained in a national database.

The 'Gopal Sanghs' or the breeding facilities will aim to even escalate into a public-private partnership. The Centre also runs a major programme for genetic upgradation called the National Project for Cattle and Buffalo Breeding.

Currently India is falling behind the United States and New Zealand, as our output is just one-fifth compared to the two countries. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation highlights that intrinsically low genetic potential and poor quality of animal nutrition are the leading problems. Thus the new scheme aims to solve these problems.