India’s general elections have once again delivered a sobering reality check for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. Despite a decade of expansive welfare programmes, including free food grains, housing, and cooking gas connections, the party failed to secure a majority on its own, losing ground in key states. The question is not whether welfare works, but why it fails to translate into votes.

The answer lies in a fundamental mismatch: India’s universalist approach to benefits is both fiscally unsustainable and politically ineffective. A look at the United Kingdom’s targeted welfare system offers a potential alternative.