When Punjab Governor and UT Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria walked into the 11 Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog in New Delhi on Thursday, he carried with him a document that goes to the heart of what Chandigarh wants to be by 2047 — and, more immediately, what it is already delivering to lakhs of its residents today. Here is everything you need to know.
What happened
The NITI Aayog Governing Council is India’s apex body for cooperative federalism — chaired by the Prime Minister and attended by all Chief Ministers and Lieutenant Governors. Its meetings set the directional agenda for national development. At Thursday’s 11 meeting, themed on human capital, Administrator Kataria presented Chandigarh’s comprehensive development blueprint covering five pillars: early childhood education, school education, higher education, skilling, and sports.
This was not a routine address. It was, in effect, Chandigarh’s formal bid to be recognised — and resourced — as a Viksit Bharat@2047 model city. Every number cited, every scheme mentioned, every target announced has a direct bearing on services that Chandigarh residents use, or will use, every single day.
Who does it affect — and how directly
The short answer: virtually every family in Chandigarh.
The 10,721 beneficiaries reaching Anganwadi Centres every month are among the city’s most vulnerable — pregnant women, lactating mothers, and children under six. The over 46,000 students in Classes 9 to 12 in government schools who will now receive free NCERT textbooks from academic session 2026-27 come largely from economically weaker households. The 3,200 children with special needs now receiving free education up to Class 12 under Chandigarh’s first-ever Policy for Children with Special Needs are among those the system has historically left behind.
At the higher end, the 200 meritorious students being supported with free JEE and NEET coaching under Projects UDAAN and SHIKHAR-26 through reputed institutes are aspirants whose families could not otherwise afford such preparation. The international university partnerships being scouted for programmes in AI, machine learning and business administration will shape where Chandigarh’s college-going generation studies and works next.
The city’s athletes — who have won 471 national and 17 international medals in recent years — have benefited from Rs 22.12 crore in scholarships and Rs 9.45 crore in cash awards. The senior citizen who now gets a sports facility membership for Rs 999 a year is as much a stakeholder in this blueprint as the engineering student working on ISRO-funded GPU infrastructure at CCET.
Why this matters — the numbers in context
The data Chandigarh placed before NITI Aayog is not merely impressive in isolation — it is striking when measured against national benchmarks.
Chandigarh’s Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education stands at 64.8 per cent. The national average is 28.4 per cent. India’s own target for 2035 is lower than what Chandigarh has already achieved in 2026. This means the UT has, in practical terms, a decade’s head start on the rest of the country in getting its young people into colleges.
In school education, the ‘Prachesta-1’ ranking — the Union Education Ministry’s highest grade under PGI 2.0 — has been secured for the second consecutive year. The Class 10 pass percentage has risen from 78.72 per cent in 2023-24 to 88.25 per cent in 2025-26, with 127 students scoring above 90 per cent in Class 10 and 348 in Class 12 this session. These are not outlier results — they reflect a system that has been deliberately rebuilt around competency-based assessments and continuous performance tracking.
On literacy, Chandigarh has been declared a fully literate Union Territory under the ULLAS initiative, achieving 99.93 per cent literacy — clearing the national ‘full literacy’ benchmark of 95 per cent. It is the first Union Territory in the country to implement the Olympic Values Education Programme across all 108 government schools, benefitting over 41,750 students.
How has Chandigarh built this — the ground-level architecture
The numbers rest on a dense institutional infrastructure that has been quietly built over several years.
At the Anganwadi level, 152 of the 450 centres have been upgraded to ‘Saksham Anganwadi’ status, including 40 model centres. Under Mission Shakti (Palna), 210 Anganwadi-cum-Crèche centres have been operationalised for children between six months and six years, with over 4,437 children currently enrolled. Children receive eggs and bananas twice a week; pregnant women, lactating mothers and malnourished children receive millet-based POSHAK Barfi. Growth monitoring is conducted under the Community-based Management of Acute Malnutrition protocol, and an Expert Panel of AYUSH doctors is available every Friday through the POSHAN Helpline.
A dedicated pool of 90 Master Trainers has been developed in partnership with the Savitribai Phule National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development (NIPCCD), Mohali. All 450 Anganwadi workers were covered during 2025-26 through the ‘Poshan Bhi Padhai Bhi’ Phase-I and Phase-II programmes. POSHAN Mulyankan Cards have been issued to every centre for tracking developmental milestones, and regular home visits are institutionalised from pregnancy until the child turns three.
The pipeline to formal schooling has been carefully engineered. All 450 Anganwadi Centres have been twinned with government schools, eight centres co-located within six school buildings. Dedicated Anganwadi spaces are now being incorporated at the design stage of all upcoming government school construction projects. Vidyarambh Certificates are issued to children completing preschool. ABHA ID coverage has reached 98.17 per cent and APAAR ID stands at 87.27 per cent — both with saturation drives ongoing.
In schools, the Academic Excellence Programme for Classes 10 and 12 combines competency-based assessments with continuous performance tracking. The ‘Adopt-a-School, Inspire a Generation’ programme connects government officers, doctors, entrepreneurs and educationists with students across 42 senior secondary schools. Student well-being is supported through the Ayushman Bharat School Health and Wellness Programme, Project SAATHI and a Tobacco-Free School Campaign.
At the skilling end, Punjab Engineering College has established a Centre of Excellence with Siemens in additive manufacturing and a semiconductor research centre in collaboration with DRDO and SERB. Chandigarh College of Engineering and Technology is advancing AI applications through ISRO-supported projects on dedicated GPU infrastructure. An AI laboratory has been set up at the Government ITI for Women, specifically to create pathways for women into high-growth technology sectors. Strategic partnerships with Infosys, Maruti Suzuki, Tech Mahindra and CREST are generating internship and placement pipelines.
In a particularly significant social dimension, the Jeevan Dhara ITI inside Burail Jail is extending vocational education to prison inmates, while a Mental Health Awareness and Skill Development Initiative with PGIMER is reaching vulnerable individuals — turning skilling into an instrument of rehabilitation and reintegration.
What next — and what Chandigarh is asking for
Several targets and proposals were placed before the Governing Council for the year ahead.
In early childhood, the UT has proposed to achieve full Saksham status across all Anganwadi Centres in 2026-27. New AI laboratories are proposed under the IndiaAI Mission. Three premier institutions are being prepared for autonomous status under UGC regulations. The Department of Higher Education is actively finalising partnerships with globally reputed academic institutions.
In sports, the most significant announcement is that Chandigarh has been selected to host the Asian Relay Championship 2027 — the largest international athletics event the city has secured to date. Infrastructure investment of Rs 20 crore is planned for the coming year, including the installation of Astroturf at the Sector-18 Hockey Stadium and upgradation of the Synthetic Athletic Track at Sector-7.
From the current academic year 2026-27, skill education is being extended to all government schools at secondary and senior secondary level — ensuring 100 per cent coverage for the first time. Free NCERT textbooks are being provided to approximately 46,000 students in Classes 9 to 12 across all government schools. Projects UDAAN and SHIKHAR-26 will support 200 meritorious students with free JEE and NEET coaching in 2026-27.
Underlying all of this is the central ask that animated Kataria’s address: that the Government of India recognise Chandigarh not merely as a high-performing Union Territory but as a living laboratory for Viksit Bharat@2047 — and back that recognition with commensurate institutional and financial support.
The bottom line
Chandigarh went to NITI Aayog on Thursday with a rare combination — hard data that outpaces national benchmarks, a ground-level delivery architecture that is already operational, and a forward pipeline that is clearly mapped. For the lakhs of residents whose children sit in Anganwadis, study in government schools, train in ITIs or compete on athletic tracks, Thursday’s presentation was not an abstraction. It was a blueprint for the city their daily lives are built on.
5 numbers that define Chandigarh’s human capital story
Indicator Chandigarh National Benchmark
Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education — 64.8 per cent, against a national average of 28.4 per cent; already ahead of the target India has set for 2035
Class 10 Pass per centage — 88.25 per cent (2025-26); up from 78.72 per cent in 2023-24
Adult Literacy (ULLAS) — 99.93 per cent; National ‘full literacy’ benchmark: 95 per cent
Anganwadi beneficiaries/month — 10,721 450 centres, 152 Saksham-upgraded
Asian Relay Championship Chandigarh 2027
First such international athletics event for city
