Mandi (Himachal): In order to save time and money, the Himachal Pradesh health department has started roping in drones for collecting blood samples from different locations and sending it to Ner Chowk Medical College in Mandi. CMO Mandi Dr Devendra Sharma detailing about the initiative said, "In the first phase of the projects different types of samples are being collected from Jogindra Nagar, Sarkaghat and Zonal Hospital and being sent to Ner Chowk Medical College in Mandi using drones. This saves both time and money, otherwise samples have to be sent through bike or car, which used to take a lot of time and was expensive, too."
On future plans of extending this service Sharma said, "In the future, through a phased manner we will start collecting samples from our remote areas like Karsog, Janjehli, Bagsiad and Nihri. Apart from samples, medicines, vaccines or other essential products during an emergency can also be sent through drones."
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According to Devendra Sharma, the proposal for the use of drones was sent to the government about one-and-a-half years ago by the health department. After which the government also approved this scheme in the public interest and took it forward. The government has tied up with Sky Air and Krsnaa Diagnostics.
It may be noted that Himachal Pradesh has become the first state in the country to formally acknowledge the public use of drones. The Himachal Pradesh Drone Policy 2022 was approved by the then Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur. Later, he said, “The policy envisions creating a holistic drone ecosystem built upon the foundation of Governance and Reforms Using Drones (GARUD).” The policy aims at propagating the use of drone-enabled technology in different sectors such as defence, transport, health, agriculture and more.
