New York, Feb 16: The US Department of Government Efficiency led by billionaire Elon Musk has announced a series of expenditure cuts, including USD 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 USD 486 million in grants to the “Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening” including USD 21 million for “voter turnout in India” and USD 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’. (PTI)
