<P> In 1874 the response from the British authorities was better and famine was completely averted . Then in 1876 a huge famine broke out in Madras . Lord Lytton's administration believed that' market forces alone would suffice to feed the starving Indians .' The results of such thinking proved fatal (some 5.5 million starved), so this policy was abandoned . Lord Lytton established the Famine Insurance Grant, a system in which, in times of financial surplus, INR 1,500,000 would be applied to famine relief works . The result was that the British prematurely assumed that the problem of famine had been solved forever . Future British viceroys became complacent, and this proved disastrous in 1896 . About 4.5 million people were on famine relief at the peak of the famine . </P> <P> Curzon stated that such philanthropy would be criticised, but not doing so would be a crime . He also cut back rations that he characterised as "dangerously high," and stiffened relief eligibility by reinstating the Temple tests . Between 1.25 and 10 million people died in the famine . The famine during World War II lead to the development of the Bengal Famine Mixture (based on rice with sugar). This would later save tens of thousands of lives at liberated concentration camps such as Belsen . </P> <P> British famine policy in India was influenced by the arguments of Adam Smith, as seen by the non-interference of the government with the grain market even in times of famines . Keeping the famine relief as cheap as possible, with minimum cost to the colonial exchequer, was another important factor in determining famine policy . According to Brian Murton, a professor of geography at the University of Hawaii, another possible impact on British policy on famine in India was the influence of the English Poor Laws of 1834, with the difference being that the English were willing to "maintain" the poor in England in normal times, whereas Indians would receive subsistence only when entire populations were endangered . Similarities between the Irish famine of 1846--49 and the later Indian famines of the last part of the 19th century were seen . In both countries, there were no impediments to the export of food during times of famines . Lessons learnt from the Irish famine were not seen in the correspondence on policy - making during the 1870s in India . </P> <P> The Famine Commission of 1880 observed that each province in British India, including Burma, had a surplus of food grains, and that the annual surplus amounted to 5.16 million metric tons . The product of the Famine Commission was a series of government guidelines and regulations on how to respond to famines and food shortages called the Famine Code . These had to wait until the exit of Lord Lytton as viceroy, and were finally passed in 1883 under a subsequent more liberal - minded viceroy, Lord Ripon . They presented an early warning system to detect and respond to food shortages . Despite the codes, mortality from famine was highest in last 25 years of the 19th century . At that time, annual exports of rice and other grains from India was approximately one million metric tons . Development economist Jean Drèze evaluated the conditions before and after Famine Commission policy changes: "A contrast between the earlier period of frequently recurring catastrophes, and the latter period when long stretches of tranquility were disturbed by a few large scale famines" in 1896--97, 1899--1900, and 1943--44 . Drèze explains these "intermittent failures" by four factors--failure to declare a famine (particularly in 1943), the "excessively punitive character" of famine restrictions such as wages for public works, the "policy of strict non-interference with private trade," and the natural severity of the food crises . </P>

Reasons for famine in india during british rule