New Delhi, June 30 -- The political landscape has increasingly been shaped by promises of cash transfers and free goods, with election campaigns across at least 17 states. But beyond electoral politics, this reflects a deeper structural shift in how India delivers welfare-from legally enforceable rights in the 2000s to technology-mediated transfers to beneficiaries now.

A new report, 'Realising rights: A handbook of welfare in India' by Azim Premji University, argues that while the present-day political parties favour these immediate transfers, arguably for swift electoral results, the shift risks hollowing out social accountability, eroding universal access, and, most importantly, financially straining core public sectors like healthcar...