BJP MP Nishikant Dubey speaks in the Lok Sabha during the Budget session of Parliament, in New Delhi, on February 10, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Sansad TV
Bharatiya Janata Party MP Nishikant Dubey on Monday alleged that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) had been funding organisations in India which worked to create unrest in the country and asked the Centre to initiate a probe into this.
Raising the issue during the Zero Hour in the Lok Sabha, Mr. Dubey said recently the United States has seen a change in government and President Donald Trump has “shut down USAID on the basis that it was spending money only to make different governments across the world collapse”.
Parliament Budget Session Day 7 LIVE updates – Feb 10, 2025
USAID is an independent agency of the U.S. government that manages foreign aid and development assistance.
Mr. Dubey claimed the USAID funded organisations carried out protests against the Agniveer initiative of the government, backed caste census, and supported Naxalism in the country.
As the Jharkhand MP made the charges, several Congress members rose in protest and trooped into the well of the House. The MPs wanted to raise a point of order which was disallowed by Sandhya Ray, who was in chair.
The Congress MPs later met Speaker Om Birla to register their objections to Mr. Dubey being allowed to make unsubstantiated claims in the House.
Other issues in Zero Hour
Congress member Saptagiri Ulaka from Koraput raised the issue of railway connectivity in south Odisha.
Congress member Mohammad Jawed from Kishanganj in Bihar demanded that the Surjapuri community be included in the central list of OBCs.
Congress member Namdeo Kirsan from Gadchiroli-Chimur in Maharashtra demanded that the central pension scheme for old artistes be reinstated.
BJP member Bhartruhari Mahtab from Cuttack in Odisha demanded that freedom fighters be given free first class pass to travel in Vande Bharat trains.
Shiv Sena-UBT member Arvind Sawant demanded erecting a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji in the premises of the Central Railway Headquarters in Mumbai.
Published – February 10, 2025 04:35 pm IST