New Delhi, 4th March 2014: Citizens for Accountable Governance in collaboration with Bharatiya Janata Party announces the second round of “Chai pe Charcha”, a series of unique interactions between Shri Narendra Modi and the people of India. After the successful inaugural session held on 12th Feb 2014, the second round of “Chai Pe Charcha” coincides with the occasion of International Women's Day, 8th March 2014.
As in the previous round, Mr. Modi will be interacting with people from all across India. In addition to the dialogue with the leadership of BJP, this round of CPC will also witness panel discussions with experts on women related issues. These panel discussions will precede the interactive session with Mr. Modi. The topics of discussion for these panels are being finalized by conducting an online poll via the Chai pe Charcha website, app and social media properties.
The next round of “Chai pe Charcha” will be organized in 50% more locations than the previous round and will have a substantial focus on rural areas. Going by the innumerable requests coming our way for organizing Chai pe Charcha overseas, 30 locations outside India have been included, spanning over 5 continents and 15 countries. Overall the second session will be organized at more than 1500 locations, in 500 plus cities. People will also be able to participate and ask questions directly from their homes. In addition CAG has received overwhelming response from enthusiastic volunteers across India to organize Chai pe Charcha independently. CAG will facilitate such locations by providing them the guidelines to organize Chai pe Charcha and the live streaming of the session.
Chai pe Charcha is a step in the direction of participatory democracy where people get a platform to engage with the elected representatives. The event has 3 key modules – Share, Ask and Suggest.
- Using the ‘Share’ feature people are able to share stories of challenges and achievements.
- Using the ‘Ask’ feature people are able to put across their questions to Mr. Modi
- Using the ‘Suggest’ feature people are able to give solutions to the issues pertaining to women
For the political establishment to truly reflect the aspirations of the citizens, it is imperative that the leadership understand issues which arise at the grassroots level. “Chai pe Charcha” connects Mr. Modi to the people to understand their problems directly. As opposed to political rallies, this unique and unprecedented initiative aims to establish a continuous, constructive and purposeful dialogue between him and the masses at large. During the event, Mr. Modi is able address the most pressing matters highlighted through the “Share-Ask-Suggest” module. People with the best ideas, most popular questions are able to interact with him live over video/audio conferencing during the event.
