Targeting

noun (also the present participle / gerund of the verb "target"); functions attributively as a modifier (e.g. "targeting strategy")

/ˈtɑːrɡɪtɪŋ/

The process of identifying and selecting specific individuals, households, or groups as intended recipients of a welfare scheme, using criteria such as income, occupation, geographic location, or social category to ensure benefits reach those most in need.

✍️ Usage in a UPSC answer

The shift from universal subsidies to the precise targeting of welfare through Direct Benefit Transfer and Aadhaar-based authentication has plugged leakages, yet it risks excluding the genuinely poor whose documentation is incomplete.

Synonyms

aimingdirectingfocusingpinpointingearmarkingzeroing in on

Antonyms

universalisinggeneralisingdispersingscattering

🌱 Word Family

target (n/v), targeted (adj), targetable (adj), retarget (v), untargeted (adj)

🔡 Root

Old French targette = small round shield, diminutive of targe; -ing suffix added in policy sense (20th c.)

📜 Etymology

From target (originally a small round shield, from Old French targette, diminutive of targe) + -ing; the policy sense of directing resources at defined populations developed in welfare economics during the 20th century.

🧠 Memory Hook

Picture an archer drawing a bead on the bull's-eye of a "targe" (the old round shield) — targeting is the act of locking your aim onto one precise spot rather than spraying arrows everywhere.

📝 Seen in UPSC Question Papers

Prelims 2014 — Banking

Real UPSC previous-year questions whose text uses “Targeting” — proof this word earns its place on your list.

⚖️ Social Justice 📖 Seen in: Welfare Schemes & Social Justice — Pov...

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