Government’s new policy will soon make it easier to transport human organs for transplant

Updated drone policy proposed by the government is set to revolutionize the way human organs are transferred between hospitals in the country, saving precious time and lives. The proposal is vital for saving human lives as it will remove the need for creating special green corridors between the place of harvesting of organ and its destination. For the first time the government has proposed to allow commercial use of drones and their operations beyond the visual line of sight under the draft of Drone 2.0 policy unveiled by Jayant Sinha, minister of state for civil aviation in Mumbai, which will also cover transfer of organs between hospitals. Ministry of civil aviation has received representations from several hospitals seeking permission to use drones for speedy transportation of organs as it is vital for saving lives.

The ministry then incorporated the proposal in the draft of Drone 2.0 policy. The policy also envisages setting up of drone-ports which can be used for take-off and landing of drones. These two restrictions, restriction on the commercial use of drones and the condition to fly a drone within visual range were considered the two biggest impediments in promoting the commercial use of drones in the country. Drone Policy 1.0 did not permit the drone operations beyond the visual line of sight. Civil aviation ministry will soon invite comments of stakeholders on the draft of Drone 2.0 policy. These inputs will be used in finalizing the Drone 2.0 policy which will herald the era of commercial use of drones in the country.