From small-time bizwoman, Bhelavi is now Bhandara’s first ‘Drone Didi’

Nagpur: A couple of years ago, when Bhandara-based Bhavna Bhelavi ran her fingers through freshly-ground flour at a small unit at her home in Murmadi village, little did she know that the same fingers would soon remote control high-tech agricultural drones. In summer of 2024, Bhelavi (40), became Bhandara's first certified drone pilot under the Central govt's ‘Drone Didi' scheme after undergoing training in Pune and later in Gujarat.Starting from a small flour milling unit, Bhelavi joined Umed Mahila Bachat Gat (women's self-help group) and expanded to making snacks like chakli, dhokla, papad and pickles. Towards the end of 2023, Bhelavi learnt about the ‘Drone Didi' scheme which aims to empower women SHGs, by equipping them with drone technology to provide agricultural services.Bhelavi was the lone woman from Bhandara to be selected for training in Pune. Subsequently, she was among the 1,000 women from across India to go to Gujarat for showcasing her talent at an event attended by PM Narendra Modi virtually.Though Bhelavi got certification and a drone from the govt last year, her entrepreneurial journey as an agri-drone pilot hit a roadblock due to a personal tragedy. "In August 2024, my husband passed away in a road accident," she said. "After that, I went into severe depression and could not focus on anything. It took me months to come out of it. Even nowadays, sometimes I feel very depressed," said Bhelavi.But a resilient Bhelavi decided against letting the past hold her back anymore. She has started surveying agriculture fields for upcoming ‘spraying contracts'. "Bhandara has rice plantations on a massive scale, and many farmers require this service. Soon I will be starting the spraying of pesticides or urea, whatever is the requirement, on these farms," said Bhelavi."I have done spraying in fields already, but on a very small scale. Now I am being contacted to use drones in over 10-acre fields, for which we are trying to work out the logistics because the drone covers only two acres in a single charge," said Bhelavi.The ‘Drone Didi' scheme aims to provide drones to 15,000 selected Women SHGs by 2026 for providing rental services to farmers for agriculture purposes. This initiative is expected to generate an additional income of at least Rs 1 lakh per year for each SHG, contributing to economic empowerment and sustainable livelihood generation.