Hello!

Welcome back to the third entry of the Citijan blog! Ever since we started working on Citijan, we had been interacting with people from all walks of life, to understand their perspective on democracy. While we were fortunate enough to engage with few extraordinary visionaries with great insights into the present working ways of democracy, we also had to face criticism and severe disapproval of what we are trying to do. This post is about the biggest adverse reaction that we had received till now - "No One Cares!"

The main contention behind this view point is that - in the present socio-political climate, people hardly know about democracy, let alone care for it! Everyone is busy with their own lives, and cannot spare their time to engage with democratic processes. Even if they are dissatisfied with the state of things, they will settle for disappointment, rather than actively trying to improve things. They have better things to do!

For a moment, let's assume that such a contention is true and that no one really cares for democracy. In that hypothetical scenario, can we really call our system of governance a democracy? If there is no longer any public will, no longer any public accountability, no longer any public trust, what credentials will we have in calling ourselves a democracy?

Is that the democracy that we deserve?

If no one cares for democracy, democracy will cease to exist. Indeed, governance will care for no one. Thankfully, that is not the case, and our interactions gave us the belief that there are enough people who care deeply about democracy, and who genuinely want to see progress in our democratic ways. We have received support from unexpected corners and some positive reactions have truly overwhelmed us!

"No One Cares" must not become an excuse for us to not take action today. We believe there are "Many Who Care" and Citijan is going to move forward in its efforts, because we care.

During one of our interactions, one of our friends Lakshmikanth Punnapa (Thanks again!) said this - "If Citijan helps at least one voter in making informed choice at the ballot, it's a success!" It was one of those rare moments, that emboldened us in redefining our success metrics! That seemingly simple sentence was so powerful that it transformed the entire product positioning of Citijan! If Citijan is of help to at least one citizen, isn't it a positive change?

We are consciously making a choice not to be driven by the metrics of active users, monthly revenues, quarterly growth or any other traction metrics that define the start-up journeys.

Our success criteria is different!

• If Citijan helps in resolving at least one public grievance, it's a success.
• If Citijan helps in raising funds for at least one public cause, it's a success.
• If Citijan helps in making Government take action on at least one public petition, it's a success.
• If Citijan helps in moving administration in fulfilling at least one public demand, it's a success.
• If Citijan helps in educating at least one citizen in matters of governance, it's a success.

We are not looking for short-term gains, and we are not dreaming of an overnight transformation of entire democracy. But, we are hopeful of gradual progress in democracy driven by technology, and we aspire to make Citijan a meaningful contributor towards such progress. Citijan may not change everything, but it will definitely change something. How far it will go will depend on social, political and civic acceptance by all the stakeholders of our democracy, by all of us!

Even if we take just one more step, we will still walk! Who knows? A big change may begin with that very small step!

Thank you for reading, and tune in next week for "Social Unicorn!"

We yearn to connect with like-minded individuals, esteemed lawyers, public policy enthusiasts, political science experts, civil society organizations, media personnel, and all those fervently invested in the democratic processes. If you would like to help, just drop a mail at hello@citijan.in. Your support is invaluable to us. We are just a message away!

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