President Donald Trump’s decision to close USAID to hit Telangana
The closure of USAID could deal a body blow to planned projects, especially those which are fully dependent on the US agency, given the weak financial position of Congress-led Telangana government
Hyderabad: The Trump administration on February 5 said it was placing US Agency for International Development (USAID) direct-hire staffers around the world on leave except those deemed essential.
“For USAID personnel currently posted outside the United States, the Agency… would arrange and pay for return travel to the United States within 30 days…. Thank you for your service,” a notice posted on the USAID website (https://www.usaid.gov/) said.
Experts say the closure of USAID, an independent agency of the United States government, will affect key programmes in India which include health, education, water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), and climate change.
The USAID mostly works with Central and State governments and in some cases non-governmental organisations (NGOs). The impact will be more on projects which have USAID as the single source of funding. They might eventually close down, but in cases where multiple sources are involved, such projects would likely see scaling down, they say.
In the 2024 fiscal year, the USAID allocation was $6.8 million for “government and civil society”; about $55 million for health; $18 million for environment and $7.8 million for “social infrastructure”, according to the US government’s Foreign Assistance website.
In Telangana, the USAID has sponsored projects in the areas of water, sanitation, healthcare and forests, among others. While it’s too early to assess the impact, the closure of the US agency could deal a body blow to the ongoing projects, especially given the weak financial position of the Congress-led Telangana government.
Here are some of the projects, in progress or completed, in Telangana with USAID:
Community-Led Monitoring
The CLM activity is aimed at involving local communities to monitor and evaluate the quality of health services they receive, especially related to HIV/AIDS. This is done in collaboration with NGOs and government agencies. The districts chosen under this programme include Rangareddy, Mahabubnagar, Nalgonda, Karimnagar and Hyderabad.
DSS-Agroforestry, Forest-PLUS 2.0
Decision Support System-Agroforestry (DSS-Agroforestry) is a web-based platform developed under USAID’s Forest-PLUS 2.0 for selecting the right species and agroforestery practices for non-forest lands. The DSS-Agroforestry tool has been piloted in Medak district with a focus on promoting agroforestry practices, diversifying farm-based livelihood options and enhancing ecosystem-based landscape management.
At present, Forest-PLUS 2.0 is working with the Medak District Administration towards hosting the tool on the district’s website and training officials from various departments, according to the DSS-Agroforestry website.
Health
A Digital Subtraction Angiography (DSA) Lab, a Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) Skill Lab and a renovated Cardio Thoracic Intensive Care Unit (CT-ICU) were inaugurated at NIMS, Hyderabad, last year with the help of USAID.
Such projects may now stutter and the government’s aim to “achieve international recognition for health education and medical tourism,” may hit roadblocks. The need for such aids is felt more especially when viral fevers, dengue, malaria and chikungunya spread rapidly during a particular season. The State government has also not come up with a single health scheme that it can claim as its flagship, such as the KCR Kits launched by the previous BRS government.
Transgender Clinics
In January 2021, the USAID-supported ACCELERATE program, implemented by Johns Hopkins University, launched India’s first comprehensive clinic for the transgender community in Hyderabad. Known as Mitr Clinics, these serve as a one-stop centre providing comprehensive services for the transgender community. Subsequently, a second was opened in July.
Education
The USAID and Sesame Workshop India Trust last November introduced ‘Learn Play Grow’ programme in Telangana to support early childhood education through play-based learning. The programme aims to cover 644 Anganwadi centres in Bhupalapally district, engaging 14,000 to 16,000 children and their families.
iJal Stations
This project is being implemented by Safe Water Network India in the State to provide safe drinking water. The NGO, along with USAID, also promotes female entrepreneurship by linking self-help groups (SHGs) to new sources of income. Under this, women own and manage small water enterprises, which are locally-owned and operated water treatment plants. USAID, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, Honeywell Inc, and the Safe Water Network have also launched water kiosks in Hyderabad to provide affordable drinking water.
WASH Alliance
USAID’s Urban WASH Alliance works with public and private sectors to improve water and sanitation services in cities like Hyderabad.
