Welfare
Who should the state support, and how far should that support reach? This axis measures the width of the safety net — from universal entitlement to tight targeting.
Expansive state provision
What this end means
The state should provide broadly, as a right. If 80 crore people need grain, feed them without means tests. Fund it from those who have the most.
Positions from the quiz
- Make free grain a universal entitlement any household can claim
- Government hospitals for all, free at the point of use — raise taxes if needed
- Bring in wealth and inheritance taxes on the very rich
- Expand MGNREGA and add an urban job guarantee
Minimal/targeted provision
What this end means
Help should reach the genuinely poor and stop there. Broad schemes leak, distort budgets and blunt growth — and growth is what actually lifts people. Target sharply, spend the rest on what creates jobs.
Positions from the quiz
- Replace free grain with one targeted cash benefit for the truly poor
- State healthcare for the poorest; everyone else pays or insures privately
- Cut top tax rates — redistribution doesn’t lift the poor, growth does
- Wind MGNREGA down; put the money into infrastructure and skills
Sitting near the middle
Near zero means you back today’s mix — wide flagship schemes, with some targeting and some restraint.
Commonly misread
This axis is not “who cares about the poor” — both poles claim that ground. It measures the chosen instrument: provision as a right, or targeting plus growth.