USAID Projects / Donald Trump tightens the screws on USAID, what loss will India suffer?

US President Donald Trump has decided to review USAID's funding, which will affect many developing countries including India. In India, schemes for health, education, environment and women empowerment will be affected by this. The funding cut can have a negative impact on the lives of millions of people.

Vikrant Shekhawat : Feb 04, 2025, 07:50 PM
Donald Trump News: US President Donald Trump is known for his flamboyant and unpredictable decisions. After becoming president, he has taken many big decisions, including strictness on migrants, global tariffs and cuts in international funding. In this episode, he has decided to review the funding of America's largest development aid agency, USAID (United States Agency for International Development).

This decision can prove to be a big setback for many developing countries including India. Many health, education, environment and women empowerment schemes have been run in India with the cooperation of USAID. The reduction in this funding can have a negative impact on these programs, which will affect the lives of millions of people. Let's understand this in detail.

What is USAID and what does it do in India?

USAID is a government agency of America, which provides financial and technical assistance to developing countries around the world. Its main objective is to promote health, education, poverty alleviation, environmental protection and democratic values. USAID has been active in India for decades and many important programs are conducted with its cooperation. These mainly include:

  • Health sector: Projects related to maternal and child health, vaccination, prevention of infectious diseases and hygiene.
  • Education: Programs promoting education of children of poor sections and schooling of girls.
  • Environmental protection: Projects to tackle climate change and promote renewable energy.
  • Women empowerment: Various campaigns related to economic and social development of women.
Impact of funding cuts on India

Donald Trump has adopted a strategy to cut government expenditure, which also includes reduction in USAID funding. This will have a direct impact on the development work going on in India:

Threat to health schemes: USAID has been funding many health schemes in India. If this help stops, then programs related to maternal and child health and prevention of infectious diseases, especially in rural areas, may be adversely affected.

Girls' education and women's empowerment will be affected: USAID helps many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) promoting girls' education in India. Funding cuts may affect these schemes, which may disrupt the education of millions of girls.

Fight against climate change will be weakened: USAID has been supporting many projects related to environmental protection and climate change in India. But solar energy, clean energy and other environmental initiatives may be affected due to funding cuts.

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) will be directly affected: FCRA (Foreign Contribution Regulation Act) rules have already been tightened regarding foreign funding in India. Now many NGOs will face financial crisis due to possible funding cuts by USAID, which may hinder their functioning.

Why does the Trump administration have problems with USAID?

The Trump administration says that America has to reduce wasteful expenditure. During the election campaign, Trump had said that he wants to shrink the "big government structure" and rein in unnecessary expenses. Under this strategy, he has planned to merge USAID with the State Department, which will lead to huge cuts in its budget and employees.

Apart from this, the Trump administration has given the responsibility of reducing government expenditure to billionaire Elon Musk. According to reports, Musk has promised to cut the federal government budget by $2 trillion. That is why agencies like USAID are not his priority.

Future prospects

The reduction in USAID funding may also affect India-US bilateral relations. India can currently look for funding from other sources to pursue its health and education schemes. However, it is not yet clear whether the funding will be completely stopped or limited to some areas.

This decision of the Trump administration may affect India's development work, especially in the areas related to health, education and environment. If USAID funding is cut, the government and non-governmental organizations will have to raise financial assistance from alternative sources. It will be interesting to see how India deals with this challenge and whether the US will reconsider its decision.