<P> The first major famine that took place under British rule was the Bengal Famine of 1770 . About a quarter to a third of the population of Bengal starved to death in about a ten - month period . East India Company's raising of taxes disastrously coincided with this famine and exacerbated it, even if the famine was not caused by the British colonial government . Following this famine, "Successive British governments were anxious not to add to the burden of taxation ." The rains failed again in Bengal and Odisha in 1866 . Policies of laissez faire were employed, which resulted in partial alleviation of the famine in Bengal . However, the southwest Monsoon made the harbour in Odisha inaccessible . As a result, food could not be imported into Odisha as easily as Bengal . In 1865--66, severe drought struck Odisha and was met by British official inaction . The British Secretary of State for India, Lord Salisbury, did nothing for two months, by which time a million people had died . The lack of attention to the problem caused Salisbury to never feel free from blame . Some British citizens such as William Digby agitated for policy reforms and famine relief, but Lord Lytton, the governing British viceroy in India, opposed such changes in the belief that they would stimulate shirking by Indian workers . Reacting against calls for relief during the 1877--79 famine, Lytton replied, "Let the British public foot the bill for its' cheap sentiment,' if it wished to save life at a cost that would bankrupt India," substantively ordering "there is to be no interference of any kind on the part of Government with the object of reducing the price of food," and instructing district officers to "discourage relief works in every possible way...Mere distress is not a sufficient reason for opening a relief work ." </P> <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>

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