The district administrations in Mizoram have worked effectively towards making service delivery a smooth process. The state has also made efforts to bring in information technology to the fore with new projects in the sector. Mizoram is ranked at 22nd in SKOCH State of Governance 2018.

SKOCH studied their ‘Onspot ILP Counter with Temp ILP Software’ project and found it with lot of potential. The project with right implementation and execution has the right ingredients to give an impetus to district administration.

For any visitor to enter the state of Mizoram, they should obtain an Inner Line Permit (ILP). People who visited via Vairengte through road could get it only on weekdays between 9 AM to 5 PM. Besides being a major reason for delays in entry to the state, the system also fuelled unchecked corruption at the entry point. To bring in the much needed transparency and accountability, the district administration opened the Onspot ILP Counter at the border point where people enter Mizoram via road at Vairengte. This operates 24X7 on all days.

The impact of this counter can be seen with the ILP issuance. For a period of 8 months (Jan 2016 to August 2016) only 602 ILP was issued, but for Sept 2016 itself 658 ILP was issued. With the introduction of TEMP ILP SOFTWARE, which is standalone without requiring internet connection, has built a mechanism whereby a QR Code is generated and printed on ILP with all details. This initiative has increased government revenue, reduced harassment for citizens entering Mizoram, increased transparency and accountability and reduced corruption. A commendable step by the state indeed!

Another project which definitely needs to be fine-tuned before it can be categorised as a project with potential is their ‘Mizoram Scholarship Application and Management Portal’.

The portal is a web based standalone application with responsive features and accessibility. With high access of smartphone penetration in rural and urban areas, the primary goal of this portal has been to work seamlessly with any mobile browsers. Mizoram Scholarship Board accepts scholarship application only through this online portal. All students are required to create their own account with their respective details before submitting the application. A massive publicity drive is carried out by the Scholarship Board in collaboration with technical assistance from MSeGS to make students aware about the availability and use of this portal. The success of this portal is defined by the sheer amount of applications from eligible candidates as well as the convenience of submitting it.

The state of Mizoram is one of the seven states in the North East and had taken several impressive steps for e-Governance in the past. The state has increasingly used modern technology to bring transparency and efficiency in administration to ensure efficient and effective service to the service delivery to the citizens of the state. The state had been a “Performer” in 2016 but the state has definitely slipped and has now been categorised as the state that is “Catching-up”.