Wednesday 19 / February / 2025
Washington DC: The US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk has announced cancelling a $22 million funding intended for "voter turnout in India" on Saturday.
In a post on X, the official DOGE handle listed the number of spendings by the US taxpayer that have been cancelled, including "USD 21M for voter turnout in India."
"US taxpayer dollars were going to be spent on the following items, all of which have been cancelled," the Musk led department announced.
BJP's Amit Malviya took to his X to react to the announcement. "$21M for voter turnout? This definitely is external interference in India's electoral process. Who gains from this? Not the ruling party for sure!" his post read.
Other funding cancelled by the US department included, USD 10 million for "Mozambique voluntary medical male circumcision."
"USD 486M to the 'Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening,' including USD 22M for an 'inclusive and participatory political process' in Moldova and USD 21M for voter turnout in India," DOGE said.
A USD 29 million intended for "strengthening the political landscape in Bangladesh" and a USD 39 million for "fiscal federalism" and "biodiversity conservation" in Nepal was also cancelled.
Similarly, USD 1.5 million for "voter confidence" in Liberia, USD 14 million for "social cohesion" in Mali, USD 2.5 million for "inclusive democracies in Southern Africa," and USD 47 million for "improving learning outcomes in Asia" were also cancelled by DOGE.
This comes as DOGE has continued to outline significant changes in government spending over the last few weeks.
The effort by what the Donald Trump administration calls the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, is intended to cut government costs drastically but has sought access to critical computer systems, including the Treasury payment system, at the objection of others in the agencies, as CNN previously reported.
During Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent visit he held a meeting with Musk the two discussed strengthening collaboration between entities in India and the US in innovation, space exploration, artificial intelligence, and sustainable development.
PM Modi and Elon Musk also spoke about opportunities to deepen cooperation in emerging technologies, entrepreneurship, and good governance. Musk, who heads the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), was accompanied by three of his children.
In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said, "The Prime Minister and Mr. Musk discussed strengthening collaboration between Indian and US entities in innovation, space exploration, artificial intelligence, and sustainable development. Their discussion also touched on opportunities to deepen cooperation in emerging technologies, entrepreneurship, and good governance."
During the meeting with Musk, PM Modi spoke about India's efforts toward reform and furthering 'Minimum Government, Maximum Governance.' PM Modi took to X to share details regarding his meeting with Musk.
