London: As an outcry blew over Britain's decision to continue over 1 billion pounds in aid to New Delhi until 2015, the David Cameron government has defended the move, saying India symbolises a development paradox.
The vociferous tabloid press led the criticism today with headlines such as 'Scandal of our 1b pounds aid to India' (Daily Express) and 'Our 1b pounds aid to India: A nation with three times as many billionaires as we have' (Daily Mail).
International development secretary Andrew Mitchell defended the aid on the ground that India symbolised a 'development paradox' - it has a growing economy and gives aid to Africa, but also has more poor than the entire sub-Saharan Africa. He said British aid would henceforth focus on three states: Orissa, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.
A spokesman for the Department for International Development said: "The coalition Government has announced that British aid to Russia and China will end. India is different. Our development programme is in transition, but now is not the time to end it completely. For the next four years, we will focus only on the poorest states in India".
"We will not be in India forever. But as part of the revitalised British relationship with India, following the PM's successful visit last year, our development partnership has an important role to play." he added. However, criticism of the aid to India is likely to figure in the House of Commons today.
"It is completely unacceptable to be giving aid to a country that can afford to spend vast amounts of money on nuclear weapons and a space programme," Conservative MP Philip Davies said.
"India's economy is growing at a rate that we can only dream of. It is quite extraordinary to be giving aid money to a country that could end up lending it back to us," he added. Emma Boon, of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "India is one of the world's fastest-growing economies so it is now hard to justify these huge aid payments from the UK.
At a time when we are making spending cuts at home, it is unfair to force taxpayers to pour another 1 billion pounds in aid, over the next four years, into a country that has a space programme. "Much of this aid never reaches those who really need it and the Department for International Development would do better to focus on trying to prevent abuses of the aid they are already giving out, before promising more."