A Quiet Civic Revolution

The programme now includes more than 300 government schools and 28 Gram Panchayats, with more than 50,000 students taking part in it

- ANIL SWARUP

Chandrajyoti is an attempt to make the Preamble of the Constitution come to life in Dholpur, Rajasthan. The programme now includes more than 300 government schools and 28 Gram Panchayats, with more than 50,000 students taking part in it. More than 750 teachers have learned how to teach civics as a job.

One thing that makes the programme stand out is that it turns unused public buildings, like panchayat rooms and school spaces, into Digital Samvidhan Ghars (DSGs). These are active digital civic libraries that have books, devices and organised activities, as well as easy-to-use monitoring.

PDIA (Problem-Driven Iterative Adaptation) in practice

The campaign didn't start as a formal programme, but it did start with a clear problem: the Preamble exists but isn't fully embraced. Implementation went in cycles:

Iteration 1 (schools): To make civics a part of everyday life by having assemblies, debate prompts, student councils and visible "Constitution on the Wall" reminders;

Iteration 2 (exposure): To bring students to Zila Parishad/PRI offices, give them chances to talk to parliament and set up a "CEO for One Day" programme to connect classrooms with government;

Iteration 3 (spaces): To turn old, unused buildings into DSGs—safe, welcoming community spaces with Wi-Fi, devices, printers, curated collections, ramps and good lighting. This includes set schedules, usage rules and logs based on QR codes.