Mumbai:   In alignment with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visionary ‘Drone Didi’ and ‘Drone Swaraj’ initiatives, Salam Kisan has made significant strides in empowering rural women and youth through technology. As a private player focusing on creating social impact, Salam Kisan is aligned with government initiatives to build a robust drone ecosystem and push for an increase in women’s participation.    

Before PM Modi talked about the Drone Didi initiative on Mann ki Baat recently, Salam Kisan trained India’s second and Maharashtra’s first female drone pilot Linta Shelke Waghmare from Wardha, Vidharba, in August’23. The company continues to equip rural women with drone technology skills through its Capacity Building Program. This also showcases an immense potential for private-public cooperation, that will result in economic growth and implementation of PM’s vision for the agricultural sector. 

Salam Kisan has successfully hired, trained, and licensed 60 rural youth and women as drone pilots. The company also participated in the recent Namo Rojgar Melava organised by the Government of Maharashtra, where it shortlisted over 250 candidates for roles such as agronomists, business associates, drone pilots and technicians, tele-callers, crop doctors and marketing associates. Salam Kisan plans to hire and train 500 more rural youth and women as drone pilots and technicians through this initiative.

Dhanashree Mandhani, Founder & CEO of Salam Kisan, said, “Drone industry in agriculture is still in a nascent stage in India. We see it as an opportunity to empower, skill and make women part of this workforce right from the beginning. We are immensely proud to have trained Maharashtra’s first Drone Didi, Linta Shelke Waghmare and implemented what the Prime Minister said in Mann ki Baat. Prime Minister’s Drone Didi initiative has motivated us to intensify our capacity-building program for training women drone pilots. We also participated in the Maharashtra government’s Namo Rojgar Melava to provide employment opportunities to rural youth, especially women in the agriculture sector. This is just the start of our efforts to equip 500 rural youth, with a focus on women, as agricultural drone pilots by 2025.”

Salam Kisan has been at the forefront of promoting industrial agriculture practices in India. The company works with 68,000 farmers in Maharashtra to increase the productivity and profitability of farmers through the AI Crop Calendar, post-harvest market and use of technology in the agriculture ecosystem. Salam Kisan was also part of the World Economic Forum 2024 at Davos.