New Delhi [India], February 18 (ANI): Sanjeev Sanyal, economist and member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, raised concerns about the influence of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) on India’s health system and social policies, particularly through its involvement with the National Family Health Survey (NFHS).
Sanyal said that USAID’s role in conducting and shaping the survey from the 1990s until two years ago has had significant implications for both India’s medical data and its health policies.
In a post on X on Monday, Sanyal wrote, “Those concerned about USAID’s interference in Indian elections should be equally concerned about USAID’s tentacles in India’s medical system and social policies. USAID effectively ran India’s National Family Health Survey (NFHS) from the 1990s till it was stopped two years ago. This is the most important medical dataset in India and drives a lot of health policy.”
Department of Government Efficiency
US taxpayer dollars were going to be spent on the following items, all which have been cancelled:
– $10M for “Mozambique voluntary medical male circumcision”
– $9.7M for UC Berkeley to develop “a cohort of Cambodian youth with enterprise driven skills”
– $2.3M for “strengthening independent voices in Cambodia”
– $32M to the Prague Civil Society Centre
– $40M for “gender equality and women empowerment hub”
– $14M for “improving public procurement” in Serbia
– $486M to the “Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening,” including
– $22M for “inclusive and participatory political process” in Moldova and
– $21M for voter turnout in India
– $29M to “strenghening political landscape in Bangladesh”
– $20M for “fiscal federalism” in Nepal
– $19M for “biodiversity conversation” in Nepal
– $1.5M for “voter confidence” in Liberia
– $14M for “social cohesion” in Mali
– $2.5M for “inclusive democracies in Southern Africa”
– $47M for “improving learning outcomes in Asia”
US taxpayer dollars were going to be spent on the following items, all which have been cancelled: – $10M for “Mozambique voluntary medical male circumcision” – $9.7M for UC Berkeley to develop “a cohort of Cambodian youth with enterprise driven skills” – $2.3M for “strengthening independent voices in Cambodia” – $32M to the Prague Civil Society Centre – $40M for “gender equality and women empowerment hub” – $14M for “improving public procurement” in Serbia – $486M to the “Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening,” including $22M for “inclusive and participatory political process” in Moldova and $21M for voter turnout in India – $29M to “strenghening political landscape in Bangladesh” – $20M for “fiscal federalism” in Nepal – $19M for “biodiversity conversation” in Nepal – $1.5M for “voter confidence” in Liberia – $14M for “social cohesion” in Mali – $2.5M for “inclusive democracies in Southern Africa” – $47M for “improving learning outcomes in Asia” – $2M to develop “sustainable recycling models” to “increase socio-economic cohesion among marginalized communities of Kosovo Roma, Ashkali, and Egypt”
He added, “Not only were we allowing a foreign agency to harvest our medical data but, by allowing them to design surveys and direct analysis, we were letting them influence our national health responses.”
He also pointed out that the NFHS questionnaire was “skewed” to support social narratives, particularly around issues of domestic violence. “Equally worryingly, much of the NFHS questionnaire was deliberately skewed to support certain social narratives. The questionnaire for men, for instance, is only 29 pages but that for women is 94 pages. A lot of the additional questions are deliberately worded to elicit a narrative of intra-family violence against Indian women. Must say, very slyly done,” Sanyal said.
He added, “Readers will recall that late Bibek Debroy and I strongly pushed back against this (including publicly in newspaper columns). Fortunately, GoI took up the matter and the latest NFHS is being done by the Health Ministry on its own. Some people are asking why the USAID did the the 2019-21 NFHS survey and was not removed earlier. Well, it is not so easy to upturn a well established system that went back decades. It takes time to recognise a problem, and build capability to replace it. Nonetheless, GoI has been tightening FCRA over the last decade despite many howls of protest. One can only do more when the Overton Window has moved. The DOGE revelations about USAID has hopefully done that.”
On February 16, Sanyal in another post wrote, “Would love to find out who received the US$21mn spent to improve “voter turnout in India” and the US$29mn to “strengthening political landscape in Bangladesh”; not to mention the US$29mn spend to improve “fiscal federalism” in Nepal. USAID is the biggest scam in human history.”
Recently, US President Donald Trump criticised the US Agency for International Development (USAID), claiming that the agency’s handling of funds is “fraudulently and unexplainable” and said that the agency should “close down.” “USAID is driving the radical left crazy, and there is nothing they can do about it because how the money has been spent, so much of it fraudulently, is unexplainable. The corruption is at levels rarely seen before. Close it down,” Trump wrote on X.
Earlier on Sunday, BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar had slammed USAID over its funding allocations in South Asia, including USD 21 million intended for increasing voter turnout in India. Describing the expenditure as a “smoking gun of interference”, Chandrasekhar said it undermines democratic nations under the guise of promoting democratic values. The BJP leader was responding to a post by the Department of Government Efficiency, which outlined a list of expenditures funded by US taxpayer dollars–all of which have now been cancelled. (ANI)
