It examines in a succinct manner the larger and recurrent issue of the role of state by focusing upon education delivery mechanisms, the health care system and agricultural extension services in Punjab. The study highlights the constraints, deficiencies and under-effectiveness of public utilities by using a plethora of facts and figures. State withdrawal along with reckless commercialization have thoroughly crippled the service sectors providing public goods. It has adversely affected sizable sections of society. People with multiple incapacitations were not enabled by the state to participate and benefit from the market in any meaningful way. The narrative is put in a user-friendly perspective by combining theory, empirics, and policies, which makes it a lively reading. It provides a brilliantly crafted useful policy prescription with a logically built-up case for the higher role of the state in order to ensure wider inclusion and quality effectiveness. Sucha Singh Gill is currently Professor and former Head at the Department of Economics and Coordinator of Centre for South-West Asia Study (Pakistan-Afghanistan), Punjabi University, Patiala. Sukhwinder Singh, currently Professor of Economics, Centre for Research in Economic Change, Punjabi University, Patiala. Jaswinder Singh Brar, currently Reader in Economics, Centre for Research in Economic Change, Punjabi University, Patiala.