Musk-led DOGE cancels $21 mn grant for ‘voter turnout in India’
New York: The US Department of Government Efficiency led by billionaire Elon Musk has announced a series of expenditure cuts, including $21 million allocated for “voter turnout in India.”
US President Donald Trump chose Musk to head the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) last month. Tasked with improving governance and curbing wasteful expenditures, the DOGE in a post on X on Saturday announced cancelling many programmes costing hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ dollars.
The department said, “US taxpayer dollars were going to be spent on the following items, all (of) which have been cancelled...”
The list included $486 million in grants to the “Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening” including $21 million for “voter turnout in India” and $22 million for “inclusive and participatory political process” in Moldova.
No further details on the funding were given in the post.
Reacting to the post, senior BJP leader Amit Malviya termed the grant as ‘external interference’ in India’s elections. He questioned who the beneficiary was, asserting that it was ‘not the ruling party for sure’.
“USD 21M for voter turnout? This definitely is external interference in India’s electoral process. Who gains from this? Not the ruling party for sure!” the BJP’s IT department head said on X.
He claimed that the now cancelled programme was a pointer to the previous Congress-led UPA government allegedly enabling infiltration of Indian institutions by forces opposed to the country’s interests.
This comes days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official visit to the US, during which he held talks with President Trump, as well as Musk.
The SpaceX CEO met Modi with his family, including three children. The two discussed opportunities in space, mobility, technology, and energy and exchanged notes on efforts at good governance in India and the US.
In its post, the DOGE also cancelled $29 million allocated to “strengthening political landscape in Bangladesh”, as well as $20 million for “fiscal federalism” in Nepal and $19 million for “biodiversity conversation” in the Himalayan nation.
It also announced cutting a $10 million grant for “Mozambique voluntary medical male circumcision”, $2.3 million for “strengthening independent voices in Cambodia”, $32 million to the Prague Civil Society Centre, $40 million for “gender equality and women empowerment hub” and $14 million for “improving public procurement” in Serbia, among other expenditure cuts. It also included $47 million for “improving learning outcomes in Asia”.
The DOGE has been put in charge of overseeing workforce reduction across the government, and as part of that, Musk announced that he would shut down USAID, which is responsible for humanitarian efforts around the globe.
According to USAID officials on February 7, all USAID humanitarian work worldwide had been stopped, reported ABC News.
The agency’s website was shut down before Musk’s announcement. Later, a Trump-nominated judge announced a temporary restraining order that prevents the president and DOGE from placing 2,200 employees on administrative leave.
