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Preeti Mehra

Even as India is being heralded as a global information technology power to reckon with, for most in the seven Sister States of the North-East of the country, even using a mouse is a novelty. But now Mizoram is set to break the trend.

Though remote with no railway link to other parts of the country even today, it is the first State that has attempted to expose its youth to software development.

In April, its first batch of 200 professionals will pass out after year-long training, with an aim to become IT entrepreneurs, by which they could set up IT-based businesses in the region or assist the State Government to put in place e-governance in all its departments. Another 200 are being enrolled for the second batch.

Assisting the State in its endeavour is IT training and education company New Horizons, which has set up a state-of- the-art training centre in Aizawl, Mizoram’s capital city.

The project is financed by the North Eastern Council, which is planning to extend the programme to the other north-eastern States before long.The Public-Private Partnership (PPP) project is targeted at graduates and 10+2 students. Mizoram being the State with the second highest literacy in the country, educated unemployed youth are not difficult to come by.

Achievers all

But with virtually no industry in the State, most are forced to seek their fortunes in other States, or take up employment below par. The PPP project, in fact, offers IT training at no cost to the student, enabling those from lesser affluent families to also join the course. However, to ensure minimum dropouts, the agreement signed by the students has an in-built clause, where opting out of the training mid way would cost students Rs 48,000 or they would have to forfeit their original academic certificate which is retained by the Government.

The training entails an initial foundation module and later a professional module, culminating in project-based work experience with the ICT Cell of the Government’s planning department.

Far sighted, the Government envisages that the IT project will help it avoid outsourcing the state’s e-governance programmes to outsiders and instead involve its own citizens. Content will also be developed in the Mizo language.

“We could even develop software for government departments of other north-eastern States,” says Lalthlamuana, Deputy Secretary (IT) in the Mizoram Government, who has put the PPP in place. However, he laments the limited Internet broadband connectivity and the frequent interruptions that plague the State.

“We have been asking for better connectivity from BSNL and have also asked Power Grid Corporation to set up lines here, but not much has happened on that front yet,” he says. Lalthlamuana was also echoing the concern of the students, some of whom have bought themselves computers after the start of the programme. New Horizons’ training centre receives Internet connectivity for its students only once a week on Saturday.

Training session in progress.

Stories in this Section
Mizoram takes to the mouse

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