The Sikh Federation (UK) has congratulated the International Development Select Committee in the UK Parliament for recommending earlier today that the UK Government stop providing £300 million annual development aid to India. The recommendation came when the 12-member Committee published a long awaited report titled: "DFID's bilateral programme of aid to India". The Department for International Development (DFID) has for many years been providing UK’s bilateral assistance to four states: West Bengal, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. On the basis of the UK demographic situation - large numbers of Sikhs/Panjabis - the Sikh Federation (UK) has for very good reasons been actively lobbying DFID to provide a considerable proportion of UK taxpayer aid to projects in Panjab. For example, proposals were discussed with DFID for the UK Government to fund and support torture rehabilitation centres and orphanages in Panjab. However, the Government of India, led by Manmohan Singh has expressed a reluctance to allow the UK Government to determine which States should be awarded UK development assistance. The Government of India had expected DFID to contribute solely to central government development initiatives once the existing partnership agreements with individual States had run their course. The parliamentary report states: "To some extent this shift is already happening. The Government of India is directing DFID strongly in the direction of support to centrally sponsored schemes." In what many say is a major rebuke to the Indian Government the report asks "is it possible to be confident that the money being given by DFID to central government programmes is . . . not simply substituting for central Government contributions? Due to the attitude of the Indian Government, its opposition to targeted assistance by the UK Government and almost certainly resistance to a change in UK Government policy to provide aid to Panjab the parliamentary report has concluded there should be "a drastic reduction" in the volume of DFID’s bilateral assistance to India. A Federation spokesman said: "The Government of India has tried to dictate to the UK Government as to where it should provide development aid and control all funds centrally. It was clearly opposed to UK Government funds being pumped into Panjab. Given the circumstances created by India we fully support the recommendations of UK Parliamentarians. India has brought this on itself."