Nyaykarta.com: India’s first Advanced Public Grievance Redress Platform

Home to the world’s largest population cohort in the 15-64 age bracket, India is currently going through a host of problems, no doubt, like almost every nation in the world, including its citizens, with their personal and professional lives upended, or completely wiped out in many cases. India is also a mixed economy – where free markets operate in multiple product and service categories in line with the spirit of capitalism, in tandem with the heavy hand of the Indian government in borrowing and spending resources to maintain a socio-economic order. 

In a country like India, where so many social problems of inequality and discrimination already exists, it is prudent to reason that Indian governments, irrespective of their leaderships in charge, have been unable to execute real ‘grassoots development’, as proclaimed in many manifestos. In addition to that, India’s justice infrastructure remains inefficient and mired in legacy processes and routines, hurting the very people they profess to help. 

While India’s justice system has no doubt delivered in many instances, the sheer diversity and amount of problems in India is mind-boggling and needs a better approach. Rooted in technology. Today, at Bangalore Insider we spoke to the founder of Nyaykarta.com, Rajmanch, it is a start-up that seeks to help people exercise their democractic rights as members of a free society. 

Give a brief info about your startup?

Nyaykarta.com is India’s first such citizen empowerment startup which allows people to get help from top legal & human rights experts from across the country. With more than 500 experts in the related fields, it ensures affordable and nominal charges, providing an alternative to the existing complex and costly legal system available in the country.

These experts take all possible steps to resolve a matter including preliminary investigation, communication with the opposite party, communication with government authority, consultation etc. Not only is this method much more cost effective, it takes no time as compared to the legal system within courts.

What made you start your startup and what problem does it solve?

With 35 million cases still pending in the Indian courts, 15 Million new cases added every year and an expenditure ranging from 25000-30000 to couple of lakhs per case, common people are subject to everyday harassments with little means to make their voices heard

Considering an average time span of 10 years to each case, approximately 30,000 crore rupees per year are spent by litigants in courts! People face continuous frustration besides feeling helpless and depressed as they find no means to quick easy and affordable justice leaving them with little or no choice. With few reasons to keep hope in the judicial system a lot of people decide not to file cases at all!

While working as a strategist with leading national and regional politicians, helping governments implement their schemes I noticed how people faced immense difficulty in making their voices heard and recognised the need for a ground level change. With an urge to develop a dedicated startup with an efficient and experienced team to work on people’s issues and bring a social impact on their lives, I came up with ‘Nyaykarta’.

Tell us about yourself, your previous jobs/ventures? What were you doing before this startup?

I am currently the President and CEO of Rajmanch, a platform to ensure effective implementation of government programs, a political strategist and public policy expert. I have also been a Cofounder and CMO of e-commerce home decor start-up Homesake. Along with a 5 years’ experience in policy analysis, strategy and marketing, one of my previous start-ups include PitchCross, India’s first 360-degree b2b sales and marketing company which was later acquired by a UK based media group in 2016.

Where is your startup based out of? Why do you think that is the best place for you?

Nyaykarta is based out of Jaipur . I chose Jaipur as it is a tier 2 city with easy availability of resources accompanied with more opportunities and lower cost of expenses. It also has good infrastructure, less traffic, as well as a cleaner environment and helps us stay well connected.

As a startup founder, what are you paranoid about? What keeps you awake at night?

As we know being a common citizen, we face fraud, threat and harassment almost on a daily basis but we do not visit the police or court due to complexity and wastage of time & money and feel helpless. I want to help as many people as we can and quickly provide justice before it gets too late. 

For example, when we visit the hospital for treatment and there is negligence or insurance issue, or when the police don’t file an FIR and require several bribes before any work is done and  victims are forced into a corner not knowing who to turn to . My main concern and objective is to help people who don’t have means or access to get help and end their suffering. 

Who are your competitors and how are you better than them?

Unlike the existing legal tech start-ups with lawyers focussing only on providing online legal consultation or notice or just paperwork, Nyaykarta is the country’s first grievance redress startup of its kind with selected top experts working extensively on people’s issues.

How hard is it to have a work-life balance as a startup founder and how do you manage it? 

 In the initial stages, of course you would need to put in more work and effort to get it up and running and reaching as many people as possible. Setting daily targets and teamwork is how I manage it on a daily basis. 

Have you raised funding? If yes, then we would like to know the details. If no, then please tell us if you are looking to raise.

We haven’t raised any funding nor are we  looking to raise right now . We are completely bootstrapped. 

What’s the biggest misconception people have about you? Why do they have that? What’s the reality?

 My family and friends think I don’t care about them as I had to miss some really important functions and events but it’s only due to the hectic work schedule and desire to achieve something meaningful in life and create social impact for the masses.

A lot of people ( especially the corrupt ones) try to approach me and even offer bribes to get their work done as they think I’m politically connected and because of our success in many public issues in the past, but in reality my only motive is just to help the needy and vulnerable people. 

What gets you excited about this company?

The whole idea behind this startup was to give the people who felt helpless a platform where they could receive justice in a quick, easy and affordable manner. During my line of work , I have come across several people who have little or no means to receive help and end up staying a victim instead of getting justice. So when our team helps and provides justice to the vulnerable people that excites me and motivates me to do better for society. 

Tell us how a day in your life looks like? Your schedule for a day right from the time you get up till you hit the bed at night.

Right now, I have No fixed schedule. A startup requires continuous effort and hard work especially during the initial stages. I usually stay up Late into the night and catch up on work missed during the day. My Usual day starts after 12 noon followed by meetings with government officials, politicians and working on public issues. 

Tell us about your team and how did you meet each other?

I am the Sole founder of this startup and right now we are a team of 4 members handling marketing and operations. Getting top legal & human rights experts across the country on board was a challenge. It was done through a process of shortlisting and approaching the respective experts. I explained the problem that we are trying to solve and our vision for the startup and got them on board one by one. I am proud to say that we now have over 500+ legal and human rights experts all over the country enabling people from every state to receive justice due to them.

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