Now an exclusive report by The Indian Express says that the money was sanctioned in 2022 for Bangladesh, and not for India. The report further mentions that federal grants have a place of performance or the country in which they are intended to be used and, according to the official open data source of US federal spending, “there has been no USAID-funded CEPPS project in India since 2008.”
CEPPS (Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening) is a group that specialises in “complex democracy, rights and governance programming and was funded, among others, by USAID.According to the report, the ‘$21 million USAID grant’ that DOGE mentions was intended for Bangladesh and here are the reasons.
CEPPS was scheduled to receive a total of $486 million from USAID. According to DOGE, the amount includes $21 million for “voter turnout in India.”
But, as the report states, “the only ongoing USAID grant to CEPPS matching the denomination of $21 million and the purpose of voting was sanctioned — with Federal Award Identification Number 72038822LA00001 — in July 2022 for USAID’s Amar Vote Amar (My Vote is Mine). This is a project in Bangladesh.”
This grant’s purpose was changed to “USAID’s Nagorik (Citizen) Program” in November 2022. While visiting the US in December 2024, a USAID Political Processes Advisor in Dhaka verified this on social media, “The $21 million CEPPS/Nagorik project, which I oversee and was funded by USAID.”
The report mentions that of this $21 million funding, $13.4 million has already been distributed, allegedly for “political and civic engagement” among Bangladeshi students in the lead-up to the January 2024 elections and initiatives. As per data, this grant was intended to run for three years until July 2025.
