Famine and famine policies: some empirical evidence

The famine relief policies of the government have been criticized for being too liberal, useful and devoid of economic rationality. it has been argued that administrator’s’ lack of understanding of the true nature of the distress caused by drought or famine is responsible for these deficiencies. In this paper the author examines the validity of these criticisms, using empirical evidence from some of the most drought prone areas of the country, the arid region of western Rajasthan.