Congress asks Modi govt to bring White Paper on USAID support in India over decades

New Delhi: Congress on Thursday asked PM Narendra Modi government to bring out a White Paper United States Agency for International Development's (USAID) support to both governmental and non-governmental institutions in the country over the decades, even as it called US President Donald Trump's claims "nonsensical".

The remarks came as Trump said, "Why do we need to spend $21 million on voter turnout in India? I guess they were trying to get somebody else elected. We have got to tell the Indian government...This is a total breakthrough."

Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh said the USAID, which was set up on November 3, 1961, is "very much in the news" these days and "claims being made by the US President are typically nonsensical to say the least".

"Even so, the government of India should bring out a White Paper at the earliest detailing USAID's support to both governmental and non-governmental institutions in India over the decades," he said.

The Trump administration had recently shut down USAID operations and froze American funding for various projects abroad, including in India.

One of the projects scrapped by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) headed by Tesla CEO Elon Musk involved a $21 million fund in 2012 to raise voter turnout in India.

BJP's Amit Malviya had alleged that the funds might have been used to interfere with Indian elections while party MP Nishikant Dubey alleged in the Lok Sabha that USAID-funded organisations in India protested the Agniveer Scheme and supported caste census and naxalism.

Congress had hit back saying the UPA was defeated in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and if there was a beneficiary, it was the BJP.

DH has reported that the Modi government has never been averse to the role of the USAID in supporting projects in India citing joint statements issued after the Prime Minister’s meetings with his counterparts in Washington.

On January 5, 2024, the Union Cabinet approved an MoU signed in June 2023 for USAID to help Indian Railways achieve its net zero carbon emission target by 2030.

Recently, PM's Economic Advisory Council member Sanjeev Sanyal alleged that USAID effectively ran India's National Family Health Survey (NFHS) from the 1990s until it was halted two years ago.