MIT’s Jonathan Fleming meets Namo Drone Didis, hails women empowerment in India
New Delhi, March 1 (IANS) India is using technology for women empowerment which is an inspiration for not only women in rural areas in the country but also in other countries, which can learn from this concept, Professor Jonathan Fleming, senior lecturer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Sloan School of Management in the US, said on Saturday.
While interacting with the Namo Drone Didis at ICAR Pusa campus in New Delhi, he appreciated the efforts of the government and remarkable achievements in women empowerment.
Professor Fleming was impressed by the process of training and benefits the women getting from the use of latest technology in India.
The Drone Didis explained to the visiting professor about the efforts of the government to enable them to use drone technology and providing financial assistance to become Drone Didis.
While interacting with Professor Fleming, Didis told how using Drone is helping them spray fertilisers and pesticides in dense crops where manual spraying has been a big challenge.
They added they feel proud to be called as Drone Didis and their financial condition has improved significantly.
Jonathan also visited the Drone Robotic and Machine Learning Centre of IRAI, where he saw different types of drones developed by the institute and how they are making difference in the traditional farming with the use of technology.
Dr. Ravi Sahoo, Principal Scientist, Division of Agricultural Physics, IRAI, briefed him about the drone journey of India and explained how India is integrating the indigenous knowledge and modern technology to reform the agriculture sector which is the backbone of Indian economy and social system.
Professor Jonathan found this technological development very interesting and said that India is not only transforming the present agriculture system but also investing in the future.
The Professor said that 100 per cent beneficiaries of the drone incentive scheme in the US are men, while in India, it’s totally opposite as all the beneficiaries are women which is a great example of how India is using technology for empowerment of women.
—IANS
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