Two more women farmers become NaMo drone didis in Ludhiana district

Tribune News Service

Nitin Jain

Ludhiana, April 19

Taking forward the first-of-its-type initiative launched two months ago, two more women farmers in Ludhiana district, Rupinder Kaur and Mandeep Kaur Pannu, have become the NaMo drone didis under the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagship scheme aimed at helping women to become integral stakeholders of their local farming supply chains and rural prosperity.

Eligibility

• Applicant should be a woman.
• Should belong to lower economic groups.
• Should be involved in agricultural activities.

Benefits

• It will help increase number of women working in the agriculture industry.
• Drone Didi Yojana also acts as the next stage in empowering women through SHGs to become self-reliant (atmanirbhar). The programme will give more people chance to find work.

Four progressive young peasants had been given drones worth Rs 60 lakh free of cost in the state’s biggest and largest district, in terms of area and population, in February.

Deputy Commissioner Sakshi Sawhney had handed over four drone systems, comprising an electrical vehicle and generator, costing Rs 15-lakh each, free of cost to the young progressive peasants — Rupinder Kaur from Lapran village in Payal, Mandeep Kaur Pannu from Barundi village in Pakhowal, Gurinder Kaur from Machhiwara, and Simranjit Kaur from Marewal-Gehlewal village in Machhiwara.

Aged between 25 and 40, the beneficiaries are well-qualified with most of them graduates in agriculture and heading the self-help groups (SHGs) dealing in agro and farmers’ producers’ companies in their respective villages with hundreds of farmers as their members.

State head of Grant Thornton Bharat, Manpreet Singh, told The Tribune, here on Friday, that IFFCO Chandigarh in collaboration with STREE Project of HDFC Parivartan and GT Bharat, have launched a pioneering initiative in Ludhiana aimed at revolutionising agricultural practices and promoting women’s empowerment in agriculture.

He said new drones were distributed among accomplished pilots — Rupinder Kaur, Board of Director of Lapran Women Farmers’ Producers Company, and Simranjit Kaur, member of Satluj Women Farmers’ Producers Company, Machhiwara, and Mandeep Kaur Pannu of Barundi village in Pakhowal.

“Besides the comprehensive training programme conducted by IFFCO in Manesar earlier, these beneficiaries will also receive a two-day on-farm training in their villages, focusing on adept handling and operational techniques of the drone technology,” Manpreet said, adding that these skilled female pilots, known as NaMo drone didis were ready to navigate agricultural fields of Ludhiana to achieve higher productivity, enhanced crop health and reduced environmental impact using Nano urea and Nano DAP.

Congratulating the women farmers on becoming part of the national revolutionary scheme which has an allocation of Rs 1,261 crore to empower the female SHGs in the use of drones for agricultural purposes, the DC said the beneficiaries have undergone a comprehensive training at Manesar near Gurugram between November and December last following which they became eligible for becoming the NaMo drone didis.

“The scheme aims to boost their self-confidence and encourage active participation in the latest agricultural endeavours,” Sakshi said while hoping that the economically empowered women would contribute to the development of the state and the nation.

She said these skilled female pilots, known as NaMo drone didis, would help to achieve higher productivity, enhanced crop health and reduced environmental impact using Nano urea and Nano DAP with drones.

The DC said with the help of the drones, the spraying could be done on one-acre area within seven minutes.

“With an aim to revolutionise agricultural practices and promote women’s empowerment in agriculture, the beneficiaries have also been imparted two-day on-farm training in Barundi village, focusing on adept handling and operational techniques of drone technology,” she revealed.

Beneficiaries

Rupinder Kaur from Lapran village in Payal is chairperson of Board of Directors of Lapran Multipurpose Farmers’ Producer Company. She had worked on paddy straw management. Mandeep Kaur Pannu from Barundi village in Pakhowal is heading the Board of Directors of Barundi Agro Farmers’ Producer Company. She herself is a vegetable grower over 5 acres of land. Gurinder Kaur is a progressive farmer from Machhiwara. Simranjit Kaur from Marewal-Gehlewal village in Machiwara is also on the Board of Directors of Satluj Women Farmèrs’ Producer Company.

Know the scheme

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the launch of NaMo drone didi scheme, a revolutionary scheme with an allocation of Rs 1,261-crore approved by the Union Cabinet, from the ramparts of Red Fort on August 15, 2023, for helping women to become integral stakeholders of their local farming supply chains.

With a goal to create two-crore lakhpati didis in rural areas, the scheme entails training to 15,000 female SHG members to operate and maintain drones.

Launched under his flagship Lakhpati Didi project, the PM had announced that the drones will be given to female SHGs so that they can use the technology to support their livelihoods under the Drone Didi Yojana 2023-24.

Over the course of next three years, the Union Government will give 15,000 drones to women SHGs across the country.

Objective

The primary objective of the scheme is to empower women and make them independent financially. The beneficiaries will be able to work, which will help them become independent. Additionally, more farmers would employ drones, which would strengthen the agriculture industry. The idea of the scheme is to enhance the capacity and improve the livelihood of the sisters associated with self-help groups.

It will also help protect the bodies of farmers, which were affected by pesticides, DAP, and urea during the manual spraying in the fields.

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