The rising demand for milk and milk products has led to significant growth in the dairy sector in Assam, which reflects the national trend. The growth has created new livelihood opportunities in rural areas of the state, but it has come with sustainability challenges such as the availability of quality veterinary services to take care of cattle, an adequate supply of feed and fodder at affordable prices and strong market linkage. More budgetary support to address these critical needs is essential to sustain the growth momentum and boost production. Official data shows that the state currently has 3,301 registered veterinary practitioners. As the norms set by the National Commission on Agriculture are at least one veterinary doctor/institution for 5,000 cattle units, the state requires recruiting at least 300 more veterinarians and keeping increasing the number dynamically to maintain the prescribed ratio to ensure quality care of the livestock population. The introduction of the Mobile Veterinary Unit (MVU) is an innovative intervention to bridge the gap in the availability of veterinary care. The Establishment and Strengthening of Existing Veterinary Hospitals and Dispensaries (ESVHD) - Mobile Veterinary Units (MVU) component under the Livestock Health and Disease Control Programme envisages providing one MVU per one lakh livestock population. This calls for increasing the MVU strength in the state from the existing 159 numbers to the required strength of 181. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Food Processing highlighted the spectacular growth in the contribution of livestock in total agriculture and the allied sector. The value of output of the livestock sector of the country is Rs 18.99 lakh crore at current prices during 2023-24, while the value of output of milk alone is more than Rs 12.21 lakh crore, which is the highest of the agricultural produce. The animal husbandry sector provides livelihood support to more than 100 million rural households, the committee’s report states. The figures speak volumes about the importance of the sector in the country’s economy. The parliamentary panels, however, flagged the issue of the non-availability of adequate budgetary allocation to take the growth in the sector to the next level. It observes that though the contribution of the animal husbandry and dairying sector is increasing in the economy over the years, the allocation of funds to the sector is isstagnant at 0.1% of the total Union budget, which is cause for concern. The Union Budget proposes to increase the availability of veterinary professionals and launch a credit-linked capital subsidy assistance scheme for the establishment of private-sector veterinary and para-veterinary colleges, animal hospitals, diagnostic laboratories and breeding facilities and facilitate collaboration between Indian and foreign institutions, which is good news. It is important that such proposals are expeditiously implemented to ensure that there is no gap between the intended objectives and outcomes. Another critical observation by the parliamentary panel which has great significance for the dairy sector in the state is that the area under cultivated fodder has remained static around 4-5% of the total cropped area for the last four decades despite the increasing livestock population. The committee found that the growth of the livestock sector for higher production is increasing year after year, especially crossbred cattle and buffaloes, which are putting pressure on fodder, but despite the production of certified fodder seed, there is still a gap in quality certified fodder seeds. Besides, fodder availability is not uniform, and adoption of technology and seeds and transfer of technology for fodder production have been low at the farmer level. The reason for reluctance among farmers to grow fodder, according to the government, is that fodder is not considered a cash crop and does not have any incentive like the Minimum Support Price, which is available for paddy and other crops. The state prioritising the establishment of more feed and fodder units is crucial to sustaining the growth momentum and increasing the profitability of dairy farmers and cooperatives so that livelihoods in the sector remain attractive with remunerative returns on investment. Election brings an opportunity for the primary stakeholders in the sector – livestock owners, dairy farmers and fodder cultivators – to bring their issues to political parties and candidates to include those in poll manifestos so that it can lead to constructive debate, influence required policy framing and bridge the gap in implementation of various central and state government-funded schemes. To safeguard the interests of end consumers, it is imperative to swiftly enact the proposed Central Livestock Feed Act, which aims to establish a uniform national framework that mandates minimum safety and quality standards, as recommended by the parliamentary panel. A study referred to by the Committee reporting that over 90% of Indian feed samples are contaminated with toxins, highlighting impacts on animal health, productivity, and transfer to milk, meat, and eggs, is a serious issue. For the dairy sector to keep growing, it’s important to make consumers more confident in the quality of milk and its byproducts.