Mara Autonomous District Council (MADC) is one of the three Autonomous District Councils within

Mizoram Mizoram is a states and union territories of India, state in northeastern India, with Aizawl as its Capital city, capital and largest city. It shares 722-kilometres (449 miles) of international borders with Bangladesh to the west, and Myanmar t ...

state of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It covers Siaha subdivision and Tipa subdivision of

Siaha district Siaha district is one of the eleven districts of Mizoram state in India. The district is bounded on the northwest by Lunglei district, on the north and west by Lawngtlai District and on the south and east by Myanmar. The district occupies an ar ...

. Primarily, an autonomous administrative government meant for the

Mara people The Mara (, ; , ), also historically known as ''Lakher'', are an ethnic group native to Mizoram, India, and Chin State, Myanmar. Ethnonyms While the community refers to themselves as Maras, various exonyms have been used by neighbouring trib ...

living in the state. It is situated at the southern tip of Mizoram state bordering

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

. Its autonomy was established and carved out from the erstwhile Pawi-Lakher Regional Council on 29 May 1971 and separated the next year as Lakher Autonomous District Council, and renamed to its current name in 1988.Zohra, K. (17 June 2003
"Mara History, Maraland Location, Physical features"
Maraland Net It covers 1445 square kilometres. The government has jurisdiction over land administration, administration of justice, limited legislative powers, and a few other local powers.

History

In 1954 the Central and Assam governments established a regional council, the ''Pawi Lakher Regional Council'' (PLRC), for the Lakhers (aka

Mara Mara or MARA may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Mara (''Doctor Who''), an evil being in two ''Doctor Who'' serials * Mara (She-Ra), fictional characters from the ''She-Ra and the Princesses of Power'' and ''The New Advent ...

) and the Pawis (aka Lai), in which a large number of Chakmas also resided. However, the PLRC could not function properly right from its inception as there was no common communication language among the three tribal communities to understand each other. The first meeting was held without understanding each other's language where Mizo was used as official language but Chakmas and Maras could hardly understand anything. Consequently, in 1958 the Maras boycotted PLRC meetings. In 1972, to resolve the issue the PLRC was divided into three regional councils and upgraded to 3 district councils for Maras, Lais and Chakmas."Chakma Autonomous District Council
''Agriculture Department, Mizoram State Annual Plan 2003-2004''
page 284, last accessed 23 December 2010

Structure

Departments

Mara Autonomous District Council looks after many departments in her area including fisheries, schools (up to Middle school) and education, judiciary, land and revenue, forestry, Public Health Engineering (PHE), etc.

Members

Constituencies under Mara Autonomous District Council and their members as of 2022 election:

Election

In December 2005, Independent Member of the District Council, Shri. N. Viakhu formally joined

Mizo National Front The Mizo National Front ( MNF) is a regional political party in Mizoram, India. MNF emerged from the Mizo National Famine Front, which was formed by Pu Laldenga to protest against the inaction of the Government of India towards the famine situ ...

(MNF) to lead a new MADC government formed by MNF with a simple majority. He was severely criticized for his nomination of four MNF workers to MDC nominated seats despite being the CEM of the Cong-MNF coalition government. The nomination allows MNF to enjoy a simple majority (15 - 11); otherwise Cong-MDF combine and MNF were tied at 11 elected members each. In 2009 the council was led by an independent member of the District Council, Shri. N. Viakhu formed a coalition government with Maraland Democratic Front and

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

in the 2005 election. The latest election of MADC had been held in 2022, with the Bharatiya Janata Party winning 12 seats, the Mizoram National Front winning 9, and the Indian National Congress winning 4.

Tourist spots

Tourist spots within MADC include *

Siaha Siaha (official name given by the Mara Autonomous District Council, popularly known as Saiha) is a town and headquarters of Saiha District and the Mara Autonomous District Council in southern Mizoram, northeast India. It is the fourth most pop ...

- the district headquarters, * Mt. Mawma, the highest mountain in MADC area and the 3rd highest mountain(6725 ft) in Mizoram state. About 3 km from Chakhei town, 76 km approx. from

. * Pala Lake, the biggest lake in the state, * River Kaladan, the biggest river in Mizoram, that serves as border between MADC and Lai Autonomous District Council. Kaladan river fish are famous for their taste. * Phura - the only town on plain. The barn of

Maraland {{Use Indian English, date=December 2018 Maraland is a region in the southeastern part of Mizoram state, India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by are ...

. * Tokalo (Pala) Wildlife Sanctuary, some 80 km Southwest of Siaha. * Tipa or Tuipang - the second largest and vibrant town in the central part of MADC or Maraland. * Kolodyne Bridge Kaochao - The longest bridge in Mizoram. *Zyhno-the third largest town and the place where the Mara village is located.

References

External links

Mara Autonomous District CouncilAn article about formation of new government at Mara Autonomous District CouncilMaraland.NET: An internet home of Mara people
{{Mizoram Government of Mizoram Autonomous district councils of India 1971 establishments in Assam