Rs 2 crore US study to tell how India can improve its local govt

In April this year,the National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded USD 425,642 to research the effects of providing information to citizens on the performance record of local lawmakers.

The investigators will follow citizens and officials in Delhi for two years,seeking to measure how much of an impact the dissemination of information among the citizens has on the

decisions and performance of local officials.

“It is unclear,however,why India,one of largest nations in the world,would be interested in taking instructions from the US on how to improve its political

culture,” the report said.

India is the world’s fifth-largest economy,and is accumulating wealth at one the fastest rates in the world.

Some reports estimate India’s economy will overtake the US by mid-century.

“It is also unclear why the US is paying for research on a country that owns USD 40 billion of our national debt,making them one of the major foreign holders of US Treasury securities,” it said.

“Strangely,India is also a significant beneficiary of US foreign aid,receiving over USD 126 million in health,economic,and security assistance last year,” it said.

The report has listed some 100 such wasteful expenditures by the US government.

This project of the NSF on India is ranked 80.

“This report details 100 of the countless unnecessary,duplicative,or just plain stupid projects spread throughout the federal government and paid for with your tax dollars this year that highlight the out-of control and shortsighted spending excesses in Washington,” Coburn said.

He termed the funding as a waste of tax payer’s money at a time when the country has been experiencing a financial crisis and the budget deficit at an all-time high.