All legitimate drones will be registered, will have specific tracking mechanism: Principal Scientific Advisor

New Delhi (India), August 26 (ANI): Noting that a sensible mechanism for use and deployment of drones is necessary and all legitimate drones will be registered, VijayRaghavan, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, has said that drones will have a specific tracking mechanism and anyone flouting norms will be flagged right away.

VijayRaghavan told ANI in an interview that the main point to be kept in mind in any policy is the strengths of doing it and the costs of not doing it.

The government on Thursday notified liberalised Drone Rules, 2021 to make India a drone hub.

“Principle points to be kept in mind in any policy are strengths of doing this and costs of not doing it. From an economic industry citizen perspective, the use of drones has already been proven to be revolutionary in every sector,” VijayRaghavan said.

He said in five to ten years from now, every kid could be seen making drones, trying it out, and flying.

“Drones are going to be there everywhere, therefore a sensible mechanism by which they can be used and deployed is necessary,” he said.

“In the absence of drone policy and drones being unregistered and flown without clarity on where they should be flown and not flown, you’ll suspect every drone. You’ll waste time going after legitimate drones, assuming they’re troublemakers,” he added.

The Principal Scientific Advisor said that with new rules in place, now, “all legitimate drones will be registered and they will have a specific tracking mechanism and, therefore, anyone who fails to do that will be flagged right away”.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) had published the Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Rules, 2021 in March this year. They were perceived by academia, startups, end-users and other stakeholders as being restrictive in nature as they involved considerable paperwork, required permissions for every drone flight and very few “free to fly” green zones were available.

Based on the feedback, the government decided to repeal the UAS Rules, 2021 and replace the same with the liberalised Drone Rules, 2021.

Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Thursday that the government’s aim is to make India a global drone hub by 2030. (ANI)