1. Scientific Regional Planning: When India attained independence, we adopted Soviet type centralised planning and a controlled economy. To support it, a discipline "Development Economics" emerged that has only developed poverty! We need "Housewife Economics" in which local governments do housekeeping while the state handles higher level functions and does not interfere in local matters.

The central and state governments are now required to devolve funds through the objective processes of central and state finance commissions to enable the local governments to initiate the planning process. Devolution of funds through the Supra Constitutional Soviet type Planning Commission in the form of schemes, earlier an abuse, is now totally unconstitutional. Articles 243ZD & ZE of the Constitution now mandate that the panchayats and municipalities shall prepare draft local plans in spatial form. These will be coordinated by District and Metropolitan Planning Committees as draft District and Metropolitan plans. These will, in turn, be coordinated by the state governments with the state level infrastructure as state plans, and finally by the national government with the national level infrastructure as a national plan. Planning shall be a reiterative ongoing process as in western democracies, not the now totally discredited Soviet type five-year exercise. The Planning Commission and State Planning Boards need to be merged with the Central and State Town & Country Planning Organisations as National and State Planning Authorities to coordinate local plans.

2. Planning Permission: The panchayats and municipalities being the planning authority shall, before granting planning permission, hold mandatory public hearings, invite consultations and give due considerations to the views expressed. If planning permission is granted, they shall levy planning permission charges to meet their liability for providing services such as water supply, sewage disposal and road links. This is a major source of revenue for local governments, presently abused in state corruption!

3. Civic Arts Commissions: Every local government should institute Civic Arts Commissions consisting of persons sensitive to arts, architecture and heritage, nominated by the local elected head with the approval of a committee of the local assembly, in which the opposition too is represented. Such commissions will appoint sensitive architects for civic design studies and recover its proportionate cost from the developers. They shall also require developers to deposit two per cent of the cost of the project for works of arts and crafts, selected in consultation with them and monitor its proper implementation.

4. Transparency Laws: As in good western democracies, the transparency law should provide that citizens shall have access to all public information except that restricted by the society in public interest, for a stipulated period. Citizens can seek review by courts if any item is unjustifiably restricted.

5. Fees of Architects: Architects, like lawyers and doctors, provide professional services. While Government pays huge fees to lawyers and doctors based on their reputation, Public Works Departments treat architects as building contractors and insist on quotations and bids! The Council of Architecture has prescribed one per cent for urban design, five per cent for comprehensive services, and ten per cent for interiors as the minimum fees. Government should issue directions that the guidelines of the Council of Architectures, a statutory body, be adopted by all governments - local, state and national.

6. Real Estate Laws: To prevent builder frauds, especially since foreign direct investment in real estate has now been permitted, a Real Estate Regulation Act, based on Singapore laws, needs to be promulgated. It should provide for registration of real estate dealers and their rights and obligations. It should require developers to display on a hoarding at the site the name and nature of the project, nature of title over the land, and the planning permission number, and deposit instalments ( if demanded) from consumers in an escrow account in the name of the project. The bank shall, for a service charge, release funds in instalments based on the progress of the project certified by its engineers.

7. Curbing Illegal Colonies: To curb illegal colonies, presently mushrooming in most cities, an amendment may be made in the Transfer of Property Act that the Registrar shall not register the sale of subdivided land unless the application is accompanied by a certified copy of the planning permission from the local government.

8. Directly Elected Mayors: Digvijay Singh, then Chief Minister, Madhya Pradesh, introduced directly elected mayors as chief executives. Other states still pursue the colonial practice of an IAS Municipal Commissioner as the chief executive, whereas the Mayor is merely the Speaker of the Assembly! The Madhya Pradesh reforms must be adopted in all the states.

Aurobindo said that neighbourhoods are the urban counterpart of villages. Recognised as grassroots government, they should recover the property tax, retain a stipulated portion for managing neighbourhood services and devolve the rest to the municipality. This will prevent tax evasion by bribing the inspectors.

9. Financial Year: Digvijay Singh proposed to the then Union Finance Minister that our colonial financial year be replaced by our traditional financial year - October to September. This will facilitate making sound budgets based on the status of the monsoons; the engineers will get an uninterrupted working season, and handle design and tender work in the rainy months. He got an evasive response. This reform needs to be instituted.

10. Academic Year: Our colonial rulers introduced the academic year with summer vacations, since they wanted to go to hill stations or Britain during the hostile summer months. It should be replaced by vacation in the festive winter months with, say, a two week inter-semester break in summer. Our youth can then travel in the festive winter months to absorb nature and culture, partake in active sports or do field studies, while studying indoors in the summer months. Our rural youth can help in agriculture without missing school. Hostels vacant in the festive winter months can then earn several million rupees as tourist accommodation to support education and sports!

11. Holidays: Every year, government employees get one month’s earned leave, ten days’ casual leave, numerous holidays for festivals and death anniversaries and Saturdays and Sundays off. The government hardly works! As in the West, there should be one month’s earned (inclusive of casual) leave. The holidays should be restricted to the number of Saturdays and Sundays in a year. If a holiday is given for any religious festival, death anniversary or any other reason, equivalent number of Saturdays should be made working days. Summer vacations, of course, must also be abolished.