Famine Code
Also called: Indian Famine Codes · Topic: Colonial Economy: Land Revenue, Drain, Deindustrialisation · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Famine Codes were rules made by the British government of India after the Famine Commission of 1878–80. They told officials how to spot the early warning signs of famine. They also explained how to declare scarcity, start relief works (paid public jobs for the hungry) and give out free food to those who could not work. The first code came out in the early 1880s. The codes marked a shift towards organised famine relief, though relief often stayed small. Later famine and scarcity manuals in India grew out of them.
Example
After the Great Famine of 1876–78, the Famine Commission's report led to the Provisional Famine Code of 1883. Provinces then made their own famine codes based on it.
Don't confuse with
- Famine Commission of 1878–80: the body that studied the famine and made recommendations. The Famine Code was the set of working rules that came out of it.
Related concepts
- Bengal famine of 1770
- Great Famine of 1876-78
- Lord Lytton
- Famine Commissions
- Colonial famines
- Bengal famine 1943