In 1992, the Constitution of India underwent two seminal amendments — the 73rd Amendment for rural areas and the 74th Amendment for urban areas. Twenty-five years later, it is apparent that while the 73rd Amendment for Panchayati Raj has worked quite well, the 74th Amendment for city governance as the third tier of our government system has failed miserably. One wishes that Bhure Lal, then secretary, rural development, and the late K.C. Sivaramakrishnan, then secretary, urban development, had exchanged notes and aligned themselves on the best way forward for third-tier governance.