Chandigarh Congress launches 'Ideas Bank' for public participation

Chandigarh, Jan 20 (PTI) The Chandigarh Territorial Congress Committee on Tuesday launched an 'Ideas Bank', a participatory civic initiative designed to give the city residents a direct and meaningful role in shaping its development.

"On www.chdnext.com, the platform has been designed as an open and accessible online platform through which citizens can submit ideas, suggestions, and solutions on issues impacting everyday life in the city, including infrastructure, civic amenities, environment, public spaces, and local governance," a party statement said.

The initiative aims to ensure that public feedback is not only heard, but also actively informs political engagement and decision-making, it said.

Meanwhile, Congress leader and party MP from Chandigarh, Manish Tewari, welcomed the initiative.

"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," he said here.

The Ideas Bank creates an institutional mechanism through which people can directly articulate their visions for the city's future, Tewari, a former Union minister, said.

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, public representatives, to respond with greater focus and accountability.

The portal, he said, reflects the Congress's belief that effective governance must be rooted in real experiences and concerns from the ground.

Chandigarh Congress President Harmohinder Singh Lucky said the initiative would function through an action-oriented process.

"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.

He said one of the objectives of the platform is to foster a sense of ownership among residents. PTI SUN VN VN