Tag: Thinking through ZenC
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Zen Updates – Mar ’26
Hi again 🙂 Zen Citizen Rwanda This month we are excited to share that our volunteer Gaius has launched ‘Zen Citizen Rwanda’. Gaius has been with us for a year now, mainly helping with our website. In his words, “I came to deeply appreciate the kind of impact regular citizens can create, and made a…
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When Bureaucracy Meets Resolve: Mohan’s Story
Just last Friday over lunch, I was explaining Zen Citizen’s two-fold approach to tackling petty corruption to a friend, A. The first part involves sharing a list of reasons officials often use to reject applications for government services. Some of these reasons are legitimate, while others are fabricated to prolong the process, making citizens weary…
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Spectrum of Reactions for Zen Citizen: Strong Support to Outright Dismissiveness
I’ve had some interesting conversations over the last couple of weeks – three heads of civic engagement organizations, one retired bureaucrat, and a high-ranking bureaucrat. All the civic organizations actively supported ZenCitizen. A couple even offered their resources, including office space. The retired bureaucrat was lukewarm about the outcome but still encouraged me to give…
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“What do you see as the ‘end-state’?”
I get this question a lot. If the pilot is successful, my ideal end-state vision for Zen Citizen would be: For now, though, my focus is on the proof of concept with ZenC. One breath at a time! 🙂
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Why do I call ZenC an “experiment” ?
There are a couple of reasons why I prefer to call ZenC an experiment. 1. I’m not sure if Sakala have enough teeth My belief in ZenC’s potential to make a difference is rooted in the Right to Public Services Act. This law mandates that once a citizen submits an application and receives an acknowledgment…
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The Mystery of the Dead Link
Due to significant delays by the BBMP in generating Property IDs, many citizens eager to pay their property taxes have been unable to do so on time, resulting in accrued interest and penalties. In March 2024, the BBMP announced that property tax payments could be made even without a generated Property ID, introducing an online…
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What Practical Content Looks Like
Zen Citizen provides actionable advice to save you time, effort, and frustration in accessing government services. Here are a few examples of the tips, tricks, and instructions we offer to help you navigate the system smoothly and confidently challenge any demands for bribes. Before applying Planning Ahead For transferring a BESCOM connection, visit the O&M…
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What am I missing here?
I wonder why there haven’t been more solutions addressing the pain of accessing government services, beyond agents acting as middlemen for corrupt government staff. Why we don’t have a third-party organization that solves for this problem. Or even something relatively simple, as an information-based solution like ZenC? On a related note, I wonder if it…
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“How do you plan to get this to people?”
I get this question a lot. To be honest, I haven’t planned that far ahead yet. Right now, I’m focused on conducting an experiment—a proof of concept. If there’s a strong value proposition, I’m confident we’ll find a way to take it to the masses, though I realize that might sound a bit naive. A…
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Exploring Wiki as a platform for Zen Citizen
While Zen Citizen includes a wiki component, it is not central to our vision of making government services more accessible. Currently, access to the wiki is restricted to our immediate team for collaborative content editing. We are uncertain whether the benefits of a wiki—such as community engagement and participation—outweigh the challenges of ensuring content accuracy…