Veena Reddy serves as the current Director of United States Agency for International Development’s Mission in India and Bhutan
| Photo Credit: Veena Reddy/X
Ever since U.S. President Donald Trump spoke about a “$21 million USAID funding for voter turnout in India,” allegations of “foreign interference“ in Indian elections arose. The BJP has accused the Congress behind this alleged interference. On Thursday (February 20, 2025), the party turned its focus on one Veena Reddy.
After Elon Musk allegation on USAID funding on voter turnout data, BJP Lok Sabha member Nishikant Dubey also said that the USAID had been funding organisations in India that worked to create unrest in the country and asked the Centre to initiate a probe into this.
BJP Rajya Sabha member and advocate Mahesh Jethmalani in a post in his ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) account posted that Veena Reddy was sent to India in 2021 as USAID’s mission director in India and she left India after the Lok Sabha election of 2024. He alleged that she left India to evade the investigative agencies in India about the USAID funding on India’s voter turnout. He also said that she used to work in collaboration with U.S ambassador to India Eric Garcetti.
Veena Reddy serves as the current Director of United States Agency for International Development’s Mission in India and Bhutan and originally hails from Andhra Pradesh, she is the first Indian American to lead USAID in India.
United States’ Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by Elon Musk disclosed that USAID contributed $21 million to the Election Commission to boost voter turnout in India.
U.S. President Donald Trump also questioned the Biden administration’s decision to allocate $21 million to India for “voter turnout”, guessing that they were trying to “get somebody else elected”. He had raised similar concerns earlier, questioning the necessity of such financial aid.
Who is Veena Reddy?
U.S. embassy and consulate in India’s website mention that Ms. Reddy was associated with USAID for several years and played an important. role in it. In the past she was a U.S. foreign service officer, serving as USAID’s Mission Director in Cambodia; USAID’s Deputy Mission Director in Haiti; and Washington, D.C. as an Assistant General Counsel, covering legal matters for USAID’s programs in Asia and the Middle East. Before entering the federal government service, Ms. Reddy was a corporate attorney in New York, London, and Los Angeles. Ms. Reddy holds a Doctor of Jurisprudence from Columbia University School of Law and an M.A. and B.A. from the University of Chicago.
When she was USAID’s Mission Director in Cambodia 2017, she maintained a staff of 75 and supervised USAID programs in the food security, environment, health, education, child protection, and democracy and governance sectors. She served as Deputy Mission Director in Haiti, where she oversaw post‐earthquake reconstruction efforts, elections support, economic growth, food security interventions, hurricane response, and the development of a new strategy.
The United States has announced the suspension of all foreign aid and ordered the review of American financial assistance to other countries, to ensure they are efficient and consistent with its foreign policy under the America First agenda. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has paused all U.S. foreign assistance funded by or through the State Department and US Agency for International Development (USAID) for review.
Published – February 21, 2025 11:06 am IST
