Famines in British India - Colonial Policies, Famine Codes & UPSC Notes

Famine in British India

Famine is a widespread food scarcity caused by man made factor such as war, inflation, crop failure, population imbalance of the government policies. The ancient and medieval India did not enjoy absolute immunity from famine but what differ from the British rule as well as the proactive measures undertaken by the state.

Factors responsible for Famine in British India

Commercialization of Agriculture.
Economic drain and deindustrialization.
The new land revenue settlement.
Lack of adequate relief measures. The policies made by the British government were often reactive rather than proactive leading to delays in providing aid to the affected region. The measures were often inadequate and insufficient.
Large amount of food grains were exported to meet the demands of British imperialism outside India leading to local shortage of food.
The integration of the Indian agriculture with the global market made the local farms more vulnerable to international fluctuations.
The Indian subcontinent were also affected by variations in rainfall which could led to period of drought and flood. Prior to the British rule the indigenous agriculture practices and local storage system have evolved to mitigate the impact of such variation. However during British rule the lack of infrastructure to manage these disasters aggravated their impact on food production and availability.
The colonial period also witness significant population growth which put addition pressure on available resources.
The entry of British into tribal areas and enactment of various forest act restricted the access of tribals to the forest produce and prohibited the Jhum cultivation leading to famines in the tribal areas.

Famine in British India

Factors responsible for Famine in British India

Commercialization of Agriculture.
Economic drain and deindustrialization.
The new land revenue settlement.
Lack of adequate relief measures. The policies made by the British government were often reactive rather than proactive leading to delays in providing aid to the affected region. The measures were often inadequate and insufficient.
Large amount of food grains were exported to meet the demands of British imperialism outside India leading to local shortage of food.
The integration of the Indian agriculture with the global market made the local farms more vulnerable to international fluctuations.
The Indian subcontinent were also affected by variations in rainfall which could led to period of drought and flood. Prior to the British rule the indigenous agriculture practices and local storage system have evolved to mitigate the impact of such variation. However during British rule the lack of infrastructure to manage these disasters aggravated their impact on food production and availability.
The colonial period also witness significant population growth which put addition pressure on available resources.
The entry of British into tribal areas and enactment of various forest act restricted the access of tribals to the forest produce and prohibited the Jhum cultivation leading to famines in the tribal areas.