Why are Rajasthan’s ethnic camel breeders staring at an uncertain future even as the Vasundhara Raje government declared camel its “state animal” in 2016?

As a part of The Quint's election coverage, we reached the Sam desert in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, to learn what a day in the lives of a camel breeder entails.

Camels, known as the ‘ship of the desert’, were one of the main sources of income in the Jaislamer region of Rajasthan, earlier used for long-distance travel, for cultivation and milk. Now, camels are primarily used for tourist attraction in the desert areas of the state.