Situated in the north-eastern state of Mizoram, largely comprising of Mara & Lai tribe. Saiha is the headquarter of the Mara Autonomous District Council, one of the three autonomous district councils within Mizoram. It has a population of 19,731 as of 2001 census. Saiha has an average literacy rate of 79%, higher than the national average of 59.5%. The main occupation of the people is Agricultural farming also known as Jhum or Shifting Cultivation.

Since its inception in 1991, NIC Saiha District has taken-up various ICT initiatives such as Registration of Gun License, Issue of ILP, Land Records computerisation etc. This has helped the district administration to provide fast, efficient & transparent services to its citizens, paving way for e-governance in the district. Earlier the district could hardly be accessed due to its remoteness and poor communication infrastructure. The only route to the area is often cut-off by the overflowing Kolodyne river, resulting blockage of access and communication. However, the advent of Information Technology made its positive impact in this far-flung area and provides communication even during such adverse circumstances.

New NIC Building

The Office of NIC Saiha was extended with the addition of another floor to accommodate more users. The renovated NIC office was inaugurated by the then District Collector.

The various e-Governance projects implemented are:

  • District Level Networking: The District Collectorate has been strengthened with the commissioning of VSAT (Sky blaster) over NICNET. This connectivity provides Video conferencing and hosts web-based application at the collectorate. LAN connectivity has also been established within and outside the collectorate connecting various state government departments through Ethernet. All these departments have been provided internet facility for web applications, e-mail etc. The District level database of e-roll is available for the election department through the district LAN.
  • ICT for District Councils: The center is providing ICT support & services to the Autonomous District Council under its jurisdiction. SDO Net Project has been implemented at the District Council with internet facility, downloading various information related to the centrally sponsored schemes, e-mail services and accessing of web-based applications etc. User level training programs are conducted from time to time for the officials of the councils.
  • CIC Project: The project has been successfully implemented in all the three blocks of the district. The CICs are providing various services to the people especially in the remote and inaccessible areas of the district. The project has been an enabler in spreading computer awareness in the district.
  • Training: The district centre has been organizing various training programs from time to time for the benefit of the district administration. A general computer awareness program for officers and staffs of the districts administration has been a regular activity at the NIC District Centre. This has enhanced the utilization of computers in different departments of the districts.
  • CONFONET: Consumer Forums Network, the central project for computerization and networking of District Consumer Forum has been successfully implemented which has given a boost to the consumers in the district. This has helped in easy filing and quick disposal of cases in the consumer courts. The case details, orders and judgment are being entered and daily / weekly cause list with status reports of cases are generated.
  • IDSP Project: The Integrated Disease Surveillance Project (IDSP) has been successfully implemented in the district. The project is supported with the latest hardware and software and is used for aiding the Medical Office in compiling, collating and storing data for future reference.
  • SARATHI AND VAHAN: The Vahan & Sarthi software has been implemented at the District Transport Office (DTO) at Saiha. The software is used for computerisation of all the major works of the Transport office such as Vehicle registration, issuing of Driving License etc in the district. The following statistics shows the achievements since the implementation of the software.

No of Learner License issued 1303 No of Driving License issued 1911 No of Conductor License issued 15 No of Motor Vehicle registered 2392

  • CIPA (Common Integrated Police Application): The CIPA software, for computerisation of District Headquarter, Police Stations etc. have been implemented at Saiha. Training on usage and demonstration of the different modules such as Registration of Cases, status of investigation, filing of charge sheet and disposal of court cases etc was conducted by NIC Saiha for the district police personnel.

Some of the other important projects undertaken by NIC Saiha are WIMAX connectivity to Institutional Schools, ITI computerisation, Postal office computerisation, BRGF project, etc.

ROAD AHEAD

The Centre is determined to tread the ambitious path of pursuing e-governance activities in the district through extensive use of ICT, which will help the citizens as well as the district administration.