UPSC Mains 2022 GS Paper 1 Q3: model answer
Why was there a sudden spurt in famines in colonial India since the mid-eighteenth century? Give reasons.
What the question wants
Give reasons for the rise in famines in colonial India from the mid-18th century.
How to structure it
Give reasons: economic and policy causes, not just drought.
- Major famines
- Revenue and agrarian policies
- Commercialisation and market failure
- Policy response and conclusion
How to think it through
Droughts are natural; famines are man-made. That one line (inspired by Amartya Sen's entitlement approach) is your thesis. Then prove it: high revenue, cash crops, grain exports during scarcity, ruined crafts and a 'laissez-faire' state. The Bengal famine of 1770 and 1943 are your bookends.
Model answer
Colonial India saw a series of major famines: Bengal (1770), the great famine of 1876–78, 1896–97 and 1899–1900, and Bengal (1943), which killed millions.
Revenue and agrarian policies
- High and rigid land revenue demands (Permanent Settlement, Ryotwari) collected even in bad years; peasants lost reserves and land.
- Neglect of irrigation in many regions before the late 19th century.
Commercialisation and markets
- Shift to cash crops (indigo, cotton, jute) reduced food grain cultivation in some areas.
- Railways moved grain to ports, so food was exported even during scarcity.
Collapse of other livelihoods
- De-industrialisation made rural people dependent on agriculture alone.
State response
- A laissez-faire attitude; relief was often inadequate; Famine Commissions (1880, 1898, 1901) and Famine Codes came later.
- In 1943, war-time priorities, price rise and poor response worsened the Bengal famine.
Famines were caused less by rain failure than by policy: revenue pressure, market changes and a weak relief system made droughts deadly. This is why independent India built food security institutions.
Keywords, cases and data to drop in
Bengal 1770, 1876–78, Famine Commission 1880, Famine Codes, Bengal 1943, entitlement approach.
Where most answers lose marks
- Blaming only monsoon failure.
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Question text as printed in the official UPSC Civil Services (Main) question paper. The model answer is original Battle IAS work; use it to learn structure, not to memorise.
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