The Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee (CTCC) on Tuesday announced the launch of the Ideas Bank, a participatory civic initiative designed to give Chandigarh residents a direct role in shaping the city’s development. Accessible at chdnext.com, the platform allows citizens to submit ideas, suggestions, and solutions regarding infrastructure, civic amenities, public spaces, the environment, and local governance. The initiative aims to ensure that public feedback actively informs political engagement and decision-making.
Member of Parliament Manish Tewari welcomed the move, saying, “Chandigarh is a city with an aware, engaged, and deeply invested citizenry. Over the years, people have consistently expressed a desire to be heard on matters that directly affect their lives and neighbourhoods. The Ideas Bank creates an institutional mechanism through which people can directly articulate their visions for the city’s future. By collating and studying these perspectives, it will become possible to identify the most urgent and widely felt issues facing the city at any given point, allowing us, their public representatives, to respond with greater focus and accountability. It reflects the Congress’s belief that effective governance must be rooted in real experiences and concerns from the ground.”
CTCC president Harmohinder Singh Lucky explained that the initiative would function through an action-oriented approach. “Citizens will be encouraged to submit their ideas through the Ideas Bank website. Based on these submissions, key focus areas will be identified on a regular basis, allowing the Congress to concentrate its efforts on the most pressing issues facing the city at a given time,” he said, adding that the platform’s objective is to foster a sense of ownership among residents.
