PM Modi to attend ‘Sashakt Nari Viksit Bharat’ program at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute

PM Modi is set to inaugurate the ‘Sashakt Nari Viksit Bharat’ program at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute in the national capital on Monday, in a landmark move aiming to fuse women’s empowerment with technological innovation in agriculture.

The event will feature a remarkable demonstration of agricultural drones by the Namo Drone Didis, a group of women drone pilots selected from 10 different locations across India. This unique demonstration is expected to highlight the potential of combining technology with agriculture while empowering women in rural areas.

In a significant announcement, the Prime Minister’s Office revealed that Prime Minister Modi will hand over drones to 1,000 Namo Drone Didis. This initiative is part of a broader effort to provide women in rural areas with economic opportunities and technological tools to advance in the agricultural sector.

The Namo Drone Didi and Lakhpati Didi initiatives are key components of PM Modi’s’s vision to promote economic empowerment and financial independence among women in rural India. At the event, Prime Minister Modi will also felicitate Lakhpati Didis who have achieved remarkable success with the support of the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission, serving as inspirations for members of other self-help groups.

Further enhancing support for these initiatives, Prime Minister Modi is slated to disburse approximately Rs 8,000 crore in bank loans to Self-Help Groups (SHGs) at subsidized interest rates through Bank Linkage Camps. This effort will be complemented by the distribution of about Rs 2,000 crore in Capitalization Support Fund to SHGs, aiming to strengthen their financial base for broader activities.

The NaMo Drone Didi Initiative aims to revolutionize the agricultural landscape by training rural women to become drone pilots. This initiative will see the deployment of agricultural drones for crop monitoring, spraying fertilizers, and sowing seeds, tasks that are pivotal for improving crop yield and agricultural productivity. With a goal to equip 15,000 women-led SHGs with agricultural drones, the initiative marks a significant step towards modernizing agriculture and empowering women in the sector.

This upcoming event, showcasing a blend of technological advancement and women’s empowerment, reflects the government’s commitment to creating a more inclusive, productive, and technologically advanced agricultural sector in India.