Britain today vehemently denied reports that alleged that millions of pounds of aid to India was being "frittered away or stolen" on projects in Madhya Pradesh and Orissa, and insisted that "British aid to India works".
In a report based on a visit to projects running on British aid in India, the Daily Mail reported that the money was not achieving the desired results, and was instead "frittered away or stolen" by corrupt people responsible for distributing it.
It also questioned the wisdom of sending aid to an increasingly prosperous India.
The report provoked fury among readers of the mass circulation tabloid, who questioned the David Cameron government's wisdom in giving £1.4 billion in aid to India between now and 2015, when Britain itself was in the throes of economic crisis.
A spokesperson of the Department for International Development told PTI: "This article is profoundly misleading.
DFID money is not 'frittered away or stolen'.
We have a team of dedicated people checking money is spent properly and achieves results, and we only pay project bills once we have a clean audit report".
The spokesperson added: "International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell personally ordered an investigation into use of UK funds in the education programme in the article and found no evidence that British money was misused".
According to the spokesperson, "British aid to India works". Since 2005, British aid had lifted 2.3 million people out of poverty in three poor states alone.
It educated 1.3 million children since 2003, and helped to all but eradicate polio.
"It's not yet time to end aid to India - it is still home to a third of the world's poor, and 400 million people live on less than $1.25 per day.
But we have overhauled our programme to make it more targeted and focussed on results, and on developing the private sector to bring jobs and opportunities to India's poorest areas," the spokesperson added.
The Daily Mail report cited projects in Bhopal and Orissa where British aid was not achieving the intended results.
It claimed that no follow-up action was being taken by the British government to check if the aid was actually reaching the target audience or not.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}