KaroKuch, a project done by students from UET Lahore, is an anonymous SMS based bribery watch system.
http://www.karokuch.com/
How to Use KaroKuch:
To send a report regarding a bribe you were forced to pay, you can send a text to 0336-4239229 in the following format:
loc (insert text) amt (insert text) msg (insert department).
Example: “loc model town amt 500 msg Paid bribe to the tax department.”
Potential:
Corruption is one of the most major issues Pakistan is facing and KaroKuch aims to provide a platform for people who want to report it easily and anonymously from their cellphones.
The team behind the project will compile all the data on the reported bribes and it will be showcased for the public to see and analyze.
It’s an interesting use of technology to address the issues facing our country and it’s the first of the projects that would be launched under “KaroKuch”.
Right now the system is available only in Lahore but its reasonable to assume that they would expand to other cities if the response is positive enough. If successful, the data from KaroKuch could eventually be used to hold corrupt institutions responsible.
Challenges:
But there’s also the question of how they intend to keep the data reliable. Since it’s an anonymous service, the authenticity of the report of the bribe could be called into question. A charged institute/individual might simply say that they were framed through bogus reports. So there still might be a few kinks that need ironing out but the site is in a test mode and I’m sure feedback will improve it and build on the idea.
Startups like this usually have a tough time reaching the breakeven point. Right now the target audience is in Lahore; for the rest of us it’s not much use until it comes to our cities (unless we want to check out the stats).
Future KaroKuch:
It’s intended as a service that benefits the community but there’s only so much time before you stop paying server and hosting bills out of your pocket. For this particular website, their best bet to grow and sustain themselves would be to get themselves sponsored by a company like Telenor which would be interested in adding such a startup to their “Khamoshi ka boycott” campaign. It would give them media exposure as well as increase traffic to the website.
Thank God some has taken this initiative.
Great idea guys … using technology in front line in war against social evils … keep it up!!! … i dont know how accurate it is and how credible the results are, but taking it to another level it can used rather worldwide to replace the traditional limited-sampling survey methods adopted by likes of Tranparency International to measure corruption perception index and other socio-economic KPIs … rather in this case, the KPI becomes more credible, in source as well as in sample size, as it is no longer a corruption “perception” index, instead a more realistic measure of the demographics as well as volumes of corruption taking place …
Is it really an anonymous service? When you send an SMS, do they keep the message and throw away your phone number?
if they take it commercially it isnt worth it.. but it is nice activism ..only if their is spam filter .. and the site needs development ..
@ Shahid Saleem, You are right, In today’s environment, there is no such thing as “anonymous”
However you can always submit such report online at their website
Salam, bekar hai, surf web traffic krna muksd hai
YES they do the same.they throw away ur number after 20 seconds
Hum apni taraf se poori koshish ker rahay hain k corruption ka khatma jald se jald ho jaye, or yehi jamhooriyat ka husan hai…
Per aap log itnay bay sabray ho k khud se cheezain kernay ki koshish kertay ho… Hakumat ka kaam hakumat ko kernay dain… :p
gud job
Just a junk website… I have changed the results by adding fake amount of 999999999… if I try to submit same amount few more times then what will b the output?? :p
junk reports, junk idea :) useless
:D the website is showing results in negative amount… poor development…
hahahaha thats totaly fake there was only 100 rs in Sadar I added 80000 (wrongly) nd now its 80100 lolx . Same about Iqbal town I added 50000 fake amount :(