Scaling ambition: From helping a handful of people to igniting a movement

When we started Zen Citizen, our goal was simple: to help a handful of people. By that definition, we’ve already succeeded; more people than we imagined have found support through our work.

Our goal now is to ignite a movement.

• A movement that starts by giving citizens the confidence to question bribe demands, whether through intermediaries or directly.
• A movement that encourages citizens to use legislation to demand answers about delayed services.
• A movement that persuades governments to revamp the user experience of their websites, and respond to individual issues that citizens report when accessing online government services.
• And eventually, implement initiatives with real teeth that penalize corrupt officials.
• A movement that, in the end, brings stigma back to corruption, strengthens Government institutions, disrupts corruption even at higher levels, and ensures equitable growth.

Our next step in building this movement is to scale Zen Citizen

Expanding to every department in every state, and potentially even other countries, by making our code open source and widely accessible.

Our immediate goal is to cover the top 50 services in Karnataka, where we launched our pilot; a logistically manageable yet meaningful goal that  represents a significant leap forward from where we started.

What would failure look like? 

Stagnant/Outdated/Misleading Content: People are leaving comments, asking for help, reporting bugs, but no one’s replying; No new guides. No fresh content; Government procedures have changed. Our once-helpful guides are now outdated, even misleading.

A website under strain: Comment threads full of junk; buggy website; malicious redirects; we no longer rank on Google, seen as inactive, maybe even unsafe.

Poor Awareness: Without consistent outreach our content stops reaching the people who need it most.

Challenges to Scaling, Their Likelihood, and Our Action Plan

Burnout

Zen Citizen is currently driven by a single full-time volunteer. We’ve been fortunate to find committed contributors along the way, such as one who taught themselves to code just to build a tool, and another who’s taken full ownership of the website redesign. 

However, the emotional toll of sustaining this effort over the long haul is high, especially when relying on unpaid contributors whose time may be inconsistent or whose skills may not always align with the project’s needs. 

Likelihood of occurrence: Medium-High 

Mitigation Plan:

• We need to invest in consistent volunteer outreach, ideally with support from well-networked individuals who can help attract volunteers with relevant expertise and a willingness to take ownership. Building in redundancies, a long line of potential contributors who can step in, will also ensure continuity.
• We also need to put systems in place: a clear onboarding plan, effective project management tools, and regular check-ins to gather feedback. 
• We need to draw on best practices from other volunteer programs. Example, pairing volunteers with a Volunteer Anchor, someone responsible for offering nudges and ensuring they feel engaged throughout. 

Financial Challenges

For full-time or long-term volunteers without any source of income, continuing without even a working salary, let alone a market-aligned one, is simply not sustainable. The pressure of financial instability eventually becomes overwhelming. Plus, infrastructure costs can rise, like the Google Maps API we used for the Civic Compass tool, making the financial strain even heavier. It is unlikely we come across benefactors such as Malpani Venture Funds who gave us a no-strings-attached grant. 

This could shift focus away from core mission-driven work toward constant fundraising. Impact measurement could revolve too much around financial metrics and dilute the original vision.

For example, there are countless YouTube videos and articles by individuals, legal firms, and real estate companies offering guidance on how to access government services. But most of these serve as lead generation funnels, holding back key information to nudge users toward paid services. We don’t risk drifting in that direction ourselves. However, we might feel pressured to start a service arm that, in exchange for a fee, helps citizens access services without paying bribes – unlike other intermediaries. But that doesn’t ignite the movement we envision. We want citizens to push back against petty corruption themselves, not simply outsource the fight! 

Lastly, in the absence of sustainable funding, Zen Citizen may end up relying too heavily on social media updates from our handle and sporadic media attention to build awareness. If that attention doesn’t materialize or proves inconsistent, our reach and impact could be significantly limited.

Likelihood of occurrence: Medium-High 

Mitigation Plan:

• Need to overcome personal discomfort around “asking for money” and the fear of letting people down. Experimenting with a Donate Now button could be a first step, focusing on retail (individual) rather than institutional donations.
• We should also actively pursue more no-strings-attached funding, and move toward formally registering the organization to open up new funding avenues.

Government Blocks the Site

Several provisions in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) criminal code enacted in 2023, particularly those related to spreading false information, threats to public order, or harming national interest, are not tightly defined. This vagueness leaves room for subjective interpretation, meaning even well-intentioned content, such as exposing inefficiencies or systemic corruption, could be viewed as defamatory or disruptive. 

The Act also grants increased executive discretion, allowing authorities to preemptively block websites without court proceedings. 

Likelihood of occurrence: Medium

Mitigation Plan:

There are few options available to us to reduce this risk. The nature of Zen Citizen’s work doesn’t involve whistleblowing, naming and shaming, or organizing protests. Our focus is on enabling access, not agitation. However, given the erratic nature of enforcement and the lack of clear avenues to defend ourselves, the risk is medium, not low.

Blunting of RTI and Right to Services Act 

Submitting a robust application is only half the battle; the other is ensuring the service is delivered on time, as promised. The Right to Services Act (Sakala, in Karnataka) and the Right to Information (RTI) Act are two important tools citizens have today to hold the government accountable; one ensures timely delivery of services, the other offers transparency through access to information.

But increasingly, these tools are being blunted. Responses are often perfunctory or unhelpful. Appeals and final appeals can drag on without offering a genuine resolution. Services are denied on flimsy grounds, or applicants are gaslit – told their applications are incomplete or invalid, even when they’re not.

If enforcement weakens further, it will erode the resolve of citizens who refuse to pay bribes or go out of their way to avoid bribes. 

Likelihood of occurrence: Medium

Mitigation Plan:

We have limited levers to address this risk. However, deterioration is more likely in cases where citizens file RTIs aimed at exposing inefficiencies, systemic failures, or potential scams – these are often stonewalled, delayed, or met with vague replies – compared to RTIs focused on individual service delays, like ‘Why was my application rejected?’

Complete Breakdown of Government IT Systems

A scenario where government digital infrastructure collapses – due to sudden policy changes or systemic neglect – and renders online services inaccessible. In such a case, no amount of user-side workarounds or “hacks” from Zen Citizen can help.

Service delivery then shifts entirely back to government offices, where even longer queues, more pronounced inefficiency and apathy are likely to push even those determined to avoid paying bribes toward intermediaries.

Risk: Low – Medium 

Mitigation Plan: 

There are no countermeasures within our control. However, the likelihood of a regression to a worse state is low given ongoing government investments in digital infrastructure. 

We become redundant – An outcome we’d welcome!

If the government begins simplifying processes, fixing bugs, and offering clear, accessible information, the need for Zen Citizen could naturally diminish. Likewise, if other organizations gain momentum, amass support, and take over this space more effectively, our value could reduce. Ironically, that would mark a success – perfectly aligned with our core mission.

Likelihood of occurrence: Low to High

We are determined to drive real, lasting change. Wish us luck. Join Us.