USAID effectively ran India's NFHS from 1990s, influenced our national health responses: Sanjeev Sanyal

Sanjeev Sanyal, advisor to Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Sanjeev Sanyal, advisor to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Monday raised concerns over USAID’s involvement in India’s health policies.

Pointing to USAID’s past role in India’s National Family Health Survey (NFHS), Sanyal said those concerned about the US agency’s interference in Indian elections “should be equally concerned about USAID's tentacles” in India's medical system and social policies.

The USAID is at the centre of a political firestorm after the Trump administration shut it down as an independent agency. The US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by Elon Musk announced the cancellation of funds for various countries, including US $21 million intended to “boost voter turnout in India".

“USAID effectively ran India's National Family Health Survey (NFHS) from the 1990s till it was stopped two years ago. This is the most important medical dataset in India and drives a lot of health policy. Not only were we allowing a foreign agency to harvest our medical data but, by allowing them to design surveys and direct analysis, we were letting them influence our national health responses,” said Sanyal in a post in X.

USAID is seeded in many parts of the government. They are now being weeded out. Would urge the govt for an enquiry to find out where the 21 mn dollars to 'enhance voter turnout' went, and who benefitted from it.
Listen in to @sanjeevsanyal https://t.co/4ANY6W9S7p Zakka Jacob (@Zakka_Jacob) February 17, 2025

According to Sanyal, much of the NFHS questionnaire was deliberately skewed to support certain social narratives. “The questionnaire for men, for instance, is only 29 pages but that for women is 94 pages. A lot of the additional questions are deliberately worded to elicit a narrative of intra-family violence against Indian women. Must say, very slyly done,” he added.

Sanyal also recalled how late economist Bibek Debroy and he pushed back against this system. “Fortunately, GoI took up the matter and the latest NFHS is being done by Health Ministry on its own,” he said.

 DOGE’s funding claims

Speaking to CNN-News18, Sanyal asked why a US agency or any foreign agency would try and get involved in India’s internal politics.

“What has it to do with them? I have been writing for many years now about who have been operating in India or influencing in India. Earlier, we used to say that they are misguided but if you dig deeper all these bodies, they are funded by the same 4-5 agencies. All of them have the same pitch,’ said Sanyal.

Those concerned about USAID's interference in Indian elections should be equally concerned about USAID's tentacles in India's medical system and social policies. USAID effectively ran India's National Family Health Survey (NFHS) from the 1990s till it was stopped two years ago. Sanjeev Sanyal (@sanjeevsanyal) February 17, 2025

According to him, this has been done for many years. “All of them are dubious and fraudulent. I have been fighting and writing articles on it. USAID is very much part of that agenda. All of this is funded by the same group running a certain agenda. Similar things are being done in India as well," he said.

Earlier, in a post on X, Sanyal termed USAID the “biggest scam in human history”.