The government has clarified in Parliament that reports suggesting USAID funded voter turnout programmes in India are “incorrect and baseless.”
Answering CPI(M) MP John Brittas’ query in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh said the US Embassy in New Delhi had been asked to submit details of all USAID-funded projects over the last ten years. The Embassy responded with a list of activities undertaken in India but confirmed that no $21 million funding was provided for voter turnout initiatives from 2014 to 2024.
The clarification comes against the backdrop of a February announcement by the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which cancelled USD 486 million for global CEPPS projects, including $21 million supposedly linked to India.
Singh further informed that USAID is in the process of shutting down operations worldwide. The US Embassy notified the MEA that all seven partnership agreements with India will close on 15 August 2025, with the agency’s global exit scheduled for September 2025.
As of July 1, 83 per cent of USAID programmes had already been terminated, and 94 per cent of its workforce laid off. The US State Department has taken charge of the remaining 17 per cent of operations.
The minister also placed before Parliament a beneficiary-wise breakdown of USAID allocations for 2022, 2023 and 2024, fulfilling Brittas’ request for greater transparency in foreign-funded projects.