In our villages, the traditional cow dung cake along with firewood is the common fuel. In cities like Bombay if electricity or gas is not available, may. be on account of strike or damage to the plants even for a day than what disorder and discontent life hell is created. Then if these 575000 villages are deprived of their only source of fuel what would be the result? Even the thought is staggering.

Life needs cooked food. For 82% population of India in villages, kerosene gas or electricity is neither available nor within the villager’s means. For them the only economic and easily available fuel is cow dung cakes and firewood. Gas, electricity, kerosene and coal are costly and in difficult supply in cities. The situation in the rural districts is still more difficult. Possible 75% of the villagers may not have seen most of these. To them the only available fuel is cow dung cakes. Before slaughtering cows, we should think in what untenable position these 82% will be placed into.

insignificant though this problem would appear at first, its ramifications are nearly attaining nation wide grave complexities. If appropriate steps are not taken in time, the day may not be far when imports of bread and biscuits would be necessitated for want of fuel to cook. We have six types of fuel available, namely, electricity, gas, kerosene, coal, wood and cow dung. Electricity and gas are city luxuries because we have no means to plan these within the reach of the 566888 villages and huts. Even if these were possible from where would the villager meet its costs; when for him to get two meals a day is a problem? In cities like Bombay kerosene supplies are short so that eight hours queues is a day-to-day affair then, from where are we to feed these villages? To most of the villagers kerosene even for night lamp is not available and they go without night lamps.
Thoughtless use of wood and coal as fuel has result in depletion of jungles,; producing water shortage.

River bed filled by falling river banks denuded of trees shallows and dries rivers, causing both water and wood shortages. We are at the dangerous juncture where if we do not develop our jungles the entire country would turn into a desert.

This leaves us with cow-dung cakes. Easily available, of this we can meet the demand if simply the cow population is increased. For such fuel requirements we would further need 80 m. cows, and if these
cows were to give us 5 lbs. of milk, a lb. per capital supply can be assured. This milk supply would save 2 ounces of food grains per head, annual saving being 8.55 m. tons. Cow-dung cake ash becomes a very good fertilizer."