New Delhi, Nov 29 (IANS) Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said on Wednesday that the Union Cabinet had cleared the scheme for providing drones to women self-help groups for agriculture.

Around 500 drones will be handed over to these women self-help groups by March 2024. After this as many as 14,500 drones will be given over the next 2 years to these self-help groups. Drone Sakhis will be paid Rs 15,000 per month and the drone maintenance and repair costs will be provided by the Centre, he added.

Around 10-15 villages will be clubbed into a cluster for drone operations, women chosen from self-help groups will be trained to operate the drones.