Sanjeev Sanyal Highlights USAID's Role in India's NFHS
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Synopsis
Sanjeev Sanyal from the Economic Advisory Council emphasizes the need for scrutiny of USAID's extensive involvement in India's healthcare policies, especially regarding the National Family Health Survey, which has been influenced by foreign interests.
Key Takeaways
- USAID's management of NFHS raises concerns.
- Medical data collection by foreign agencies needs scrutiny.
- Questionnaires may promote biased narratives.
- Government of India is now conducting NFHS independently.
- Concerns about international funding for political initiatives.
New Delhi, Feb 17 (NationPress) Sanjeev Sanyal, a member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM), stated on Monday that individuals worried about USAID's influence in Indian elections should also be alarmed by its pervasive involvement in India's healthcare system and social policies.
In a post on the X social media platform, Sanyal remarked that USAID “effectively managed India's National Family Health Survey (NFHS) from the 1990s until its cessation two years ago.”
“This dataset is crucial for medical insights in India and significantly influences health policies. By permitting a foreign agency to collect our medical information and design surveys, we allowed them to shape our national health strategies,” he stressed.
Moreover, Sanyal raised concerns that a substantial portion of the NFHS questionnaire was intentionally biased to promote specific social agendas.
“For example, the men's questionnaire comprises only 29 pages, whereas the women's version spans 94 pages. Many additional questions are purposely phrased to highlight narratives of intra-family violence against Indian women. This is quite craftily devised,” he pointed out.
Sanyal and the late Bibek Debroy vigorously opposed this situation (including through public columns).
“Fortunately, the Government of India (GoI) addressed the issue, and the latest NFHS is now being conducted by the Health Ministry independently,” he confirmed.
A recent announcement from the United States Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), headed by billionaire Elon Musk, stated that it had cancelled several international funding initiatives.
Among these was the $21 million earmarked for enhancing voter participation in India.
“I would be interested to discover who benefited from the $21 million spent to boost ‘voter turnout in India’ and the $29 million for ‘strengthening the political landscape in Bangladesh’; not to mention the $29 million allocated for enhancing ‘fiscal federalism’ in Nepal. USAID represents the largest scam in human history,” Sanyal previously posted on X.
