Explained Books | Putting Samaaj on top for positive collective action

Samaaj Sarkaar Bazaar is a collection of Rohini Nilekani’s articles, speeches, and interviews, which offers an overarching framework for India to achieve its full potential.

Samaaj Sarkaar Bazaar is by philanthropist and civil society leader Rohini Nilekani.

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This is the third book by philanthropist and civil society leader Rohini Nilekani, the founder of Arghyam, a foundation that works towards sustainable water and sanitation goals, and Pratham Books, a publishing nonprofit that helps millions of children to read books.

Samaaj Sarkaar Bazaar is a collection of Nilekani’s articles, speeches, and interviews, which offers an overarching framework for India to achieve its full potential. The book is divided into six chapters covering a range of topics from justice and governance to water and environment.

In the Introduction and Epilogue, the author explains why India must get the ordering of Samaaj (society), Sarkaar (government) and Bazaar (market) right. Nilekani recalls a conversation she had with a local NGO partner, Prem Kumar Varma, during a road trip to Khagaria in Bihar in 2007. “Premji”, she says, outlined the ways in which power had shifted between Samaaj, Sarkaar, and Bazaar in India over time.

In the good old days, he said, Samaaj would be on top, and Sarkaar below it. During the British Raj, however, the Sarkaar took over, and India’s Samaaj and its norms were pushed down. However, Bazaar remained below both these entities.

After Independence, Sarkaar remained on top, while Bazaar tried to get close to Sarkaar. After economic liberalisation, however, the inversion has been complete.

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Bazaar now dominates, Sarkaar is in the middle, and Samaaj is placed last, exploited and “unable to defend and help itself”. This, the author says, is true globally as well. The role of the state became all important in the wake of the World Wars. However, over the decades that followed, markets came to dominate across the world.

Nilekani posits that we should think of Samaaj as “the foundational sector which alone can hold the Sarkaar and Bazaar accountable to the larger public interest”. She points to the ways in which social cohesion is taking a hit — rising inequality threatens to create a backlash against wealth creation, and climate anxiety is growing.

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In order to heal, India must reset the order of the three entities and give primacy to Samaaj. “For true equity and justice to prevail, it should be elements within Samaaj that assert moral leadership and maintain harmony,” Nilekani writes, adding that these responsibilities cannot be delegated to Sarkaar or Bazaar.

Of course, Samaaj is neither a monolith nor bereft of its own conflicts such as caste and gender discrimination. That is why it is important for people to get involved directly and to not wait for solutions to emerge on their own. And getting involved, she says, means far more than the “empty clicktivism” of the digital age.

Nilekani ends the book with the evocative image of the “miraculous murmuration of starlings”. “The metaphor of this dynamic fractal is incredibly powerful,” she writes. “When we are engaged in action with mindful awareness of those around us, together we become better and bigger versions of ourselves”.

Title | Samaaj Sarkaar Bazaar: A Citizen-First Approach
Author: Rohini Nilekani
Publisher: Notion Press
Pages: 270
Price: Rs 349

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Explained Books appears every Saturday. It summarises the core argument of an important work of non-fiction.

Udit Misra

Udit Misra is Senior Associate Editor at The Indian Express. Misra has reported on the Indian economy and policy landscape for the past two decades. He holds a Master’s degree in Economics from the Delhi School of Economics and is a Chevening South Asia Journalism Fellow from the University of Westminster. Misra is known for explanatory journalism and is a trusted voice among readers not just for simplifying complex economic concepts but also making sense of economic news both in India and abroad. Professional Focus He writes three regular columns for the publication. ExplainSpeaking: A weekly explanatory column that answers the most important questions surrounding the economic and policy developments. GDP (Graphs, Data, Perspectives): Another weekly column that uses interesting charts and data to provide perspective on an issue dominating the news during the week. Book, Line & Thinker: A fortnightly column that for reviewing books, both new and old. Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025) His recent work focuses heavily on the weakening Indian Rupee, the global impact of U.S. economic policy under Donald Trump, and long-term domestic growth projections: Currency and Macroeconomics: "GDP: Anatomy of rupee weakness against the dollar" (Dec 19, 2025) — Investigating why the Rupee remains weak despite India's status as a fast-growing economy. "GDP: Amid the rupee's fall, how investors are shunning the Indian economy" (Dec 5, 2025). "Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences 2025: How the winners explained economic growth" (Oct 13, 2025). Global Geopolitics and Trade: "Has the US already lost to China? Trump's policies and the shifting global order" (Dec 8, 2025). "The Great Sanctions Hack: Why economic sanctions don't work the way we expect" (Nov 23, 2025) — Based on former RBI Governor Urjit Patel's new book. "ExplainSpeaking: How Trump's tariffs have run into an affordability crisis" (Nov 20, 2025). Domestic Policy and Data: "GDP: New labour codes and opportunity for India's weakest states" (Nov 28, 2025). "ExplainSpeaking | Piyush Goyal says India will be a $30 trillion economy in 25 years: Decoding the projections" (Oct 30, 2025) — A critical look at the feasibility of high-growth targets. "GDP: Examining latest GST collections, and where different states stand" (Nov 7, 2025). International Economic Comparisons: "GDP: What ails Germany, world's third-largest economy, and how it could grow" (Nov 14, 2025). "On the loss of Europe's competitive edge" (Oct 17, 2025). Signature Style Udit Misra is known his calm, data-driven, explanation-first economics journalism. He avoids ideological posturing, and writes with the aim of raising the standard of public discourse by providing readers with clarity and understanding of the ground realities. You can follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @ieuditmisra ... Read More