A decision by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to donate $3.6 million to Indian laboratories and research agencies to assist in countering the COVID-19 pandemic could run into delays, given that the agency has been placed on a “watch list” since December 2019, officials said in New Delhi.
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On May 12, the U.S. Embassy issued a release saying the CDC would commit $3.6 million as an “initial tranche of funding” to India’s response to the pandemic. “Since early January, the CDC’s India Office has been collaborating with sub-national and national government institutes to support the COVID-19 response in India,” the release said, adding that the money would go towards increasing “laboratory capacity for COVID-19 (SARC-CoV-2) testing, molecular diagnostics and serology”.
However, a government official told The Hindu that any funding from the U.S. government body would have to be cleared by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) as it had been placed on a “watch list” on December 2, 2019, that barred it from sending funds directly to any government or private institute in India without the MHA’s clearance.
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Significantly, the strictures followed an inquiry into the CDC’s funding of an “unapproved” Indian laboratory in Manipal for