On the eve of Independence, the founding principles of health care for India were established through the Bhore Committee. Here, health care was envisaged as comprehensive, universal and free at the point of delivery, based on a government-led service, and to be paid from tax-funded revenues. These policies, which were adopted from the National Health Service (NHS), a major social reform in the U.K. following the Second World War, have stood the test of time and remain a source of pride for the U.K. But for India, it is an embarrassment that this health model has declined because of chaotic, mismanaged, unregulated and discriminatory policies and the priorities of successive governments.