Kerala makes history as drone delivers birth certificate

Kerala makes history as drone delivers birth certificate
A drone brought the duplicate copy of a girl's birth certificate to a relief camp at Ponnani.

Malappuram: Drones are increasingly being used for civilian purposes after making its lethal effect in war zones. In India too, drones are being used to keep a tab on vehicular traffic and crowd at major gatherings. In Kerala and elsewhere, they are gradually becoming popular among photographers for capturing view from the top even as retailers abroad experiment with them for goods delivery. But Kerala, which has served as a model to other states in India, has gone a step ahead to deliver civic services at the door step of the public as a drone was used to deliver government document -- and that too in a flood relief camp.

It was a moment of surprise for little Shifa and her mother Aneesha, who were staying at the relief camp at Ponnani, post flood. A drone brought the duplicate copy of Shifa's birth certificate that was lost in the flood. Officials claimed this is the first time in India, where a drone delivered an official document to the public. Assembly Speaker and Ponnani MLA P Sreeramakrishnan encouraged this novel way of connecting to the public.

“All the documents, including the birth certificates of my three children, were placed safely in the top shelf in our room. Applications were given to the speaker's office to get the new copies of the certificates. On September 4, my daughter Shifa's certificate landed at our camp with a note from the speaker,” said Aneesha. The family was distressed in the floods like many in the state.

After the August floods, drones and apps were used across Ponnani to assess the magnitude of the calamity. The survey has been taken up at the behest of Sreeramakrishnan. On the last day of the survey, before sending the drone back, the officials used it to experiment if the same could deliver certificates safely.

It was not an easy mission, recollected PV Yasir, policy analyst who coordinated the mission as per the directions of Sreeramakrishnan. “I told the speaker there are certain risks involved in delivering the documents with a drone. Then he asked what was the percentage of risk involved. When I replied it was 90 per cent, he asked 'how can you bring it down to 40 per cent?' His only concern was that it should not fall on people. The danger was that it might crash on ground,” said Yasir.

To this the speaker had reportedly replied: “Land it. It will be one of the best messages we give to the dynamic youth. If it crashes, I will compensate. It is the cost that we are giving paying for a scientific experiment.”

The drone did not crash and created history, paving way for many others to experiment similar novel methods.

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