More relevant now than ever https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Famine_of_1876–78

The rationale behind the reduced wage, which was in keeping with a prevailing belief of the time, was that any excessive payment might create 'dependency' (or "demoralisation" in contemporaneous usage) among the famine-afflicted population.[11]

"Historical Roots of Famine Relief Paradigms: Ideas on Dependency and Free Trade in India in the 1870s"

(you can use Sci-Hub to read this paper) https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1467-7717.1996.tb01035.x

The principles upon which famine policies are based have changed less than might be expected over the last century. This paper examines the origins of the Indian Famine Codes of the 1880s, which set the administrative and, it is argued, paradigmatic precedent for famine relief in ‘developing’ countries, managed by ‘developed’ ones. In particular, the still‐current questions of avoiding the creation of dependency through over‐generous aid and of relying on free‐market solutions to the problems of food distribution are re‐examined. Although both of these issues are difficult, it is suggested that strong emphasis on their importance has historically been based on wilful misinterpretation of complex situations. The result has been famine relief programmes which served the interests of ’relievers’ (in this case the colonial state) more than the relieved. The nature of famine policy‐making is thus reconsidered, with a call for greater appreciation of the role of influential individuals and hidden state agendas. These are as significant today as ever.

  • NationalizeMSM [none/use name]
    ·
    4 years ago

    From the Wikipedia link :

    Sensitive to any renewed accusations of excess in 1876, Temple, who was now Famine Commissioner for the Government of India,[2] insisted not only on a policy of laissez faire with respect to the trade in grain,[9] but also on stricter standards of qualification for relief and on more meagre relief rations.[2] Two kinds of relief were offered: "relief works" for able-bodied men, women, and working children, and gratuitous (or charitable) relief for small children, the elderly, and the indigent.[10]