A day-long national workshop on the Implementation of the Online Centralized Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) Platform Version 2.0 and the NaMo Drone Didi Yojana was organised here on Tuesday.
According to an official statement, the event was graced by Devesh Chaturvedi, Secretary, Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (DA&FW), Pramod Kumar Meherda, Additional Secretary, and other officials.
Speaking on the occasion, Chaturvedi emphasized the importance of digital platforms in driving efficiency and accountability in agricultural schemes.
He highlighted how the new version of the DBT portal and the Drone Portal under the NaMo Drone Didi Yojana, was envisioned to make a robust digital system that creates transparency in the system and promotes fair trade practices giving every farmer a fair chance to acquire machines with subsidy, the statement said.
Chaturvedi also highlighted the importance of agricultural Mechanization and stressed upon improving the delivery systems to address the issues of small and marginal farmers of the country.
The NaMo Drone Didi Yojana is a flagship initiative aimed at training and equipping women from Self-Help Groups to operate drones for agricultural purposes such as spraying of fertilizers and pesticides, it added.
The newly-developed Drone Portal, presented to all states for their reviews, will facilitate mapping and tracking of drone operations, pilot training and certification management and access to all stakeholders with a comprehensive dashboard.
The workshop included live demonstrations of the Centralized DBT Platform Version 2.0, and newly developed Namo Drone Didi portal allowing state nodal officers and stakeholders to understand the features, workflows, and implementation protocols.
The upgraded portal is a major reform aimed at resolving longstanding challenges faced by farmers in accessing benefits under the Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM).
Challenges like delayed subsidies, lack of transparency, and manual bottlenecks are addressed with the new advanced features of the DBT portal, it added.