9/23/2009

Bengal famine, 1943

First we watched a movie (Distant Thunder) which refers to the famine

Becoming a paddy husker (rice worker) is a sign that you are becoming destitute.
In the famine, lots of people became paddy huskers in the famine to try to
  get some food/money.

Ways in which the brahman (priest) breaks the caste system
  - cremating an untouchable
  - brahman is pushed to the ground by a merchant
  - brahman's wife eats snails, which they don't eat normally
  - brahman's wife becomes a rice paddy husker
  - rice merchant lies to brahman, but says he wouldn't lie to him

How many deaths in bengal famine?
  - originally reported 1.5M.  Post-mortem report by British was 3M.
  - Most people believe it's 5M
  - Recent estimates say 6-7M including Orissa and Bihar

Chronology
  - Phase I: 1942-march 1943---cyclone, prices are starting to increase
  - Phase II: March 1943-November 1943---acute phase where most death and
    movement to cities happened
  - Phase III: November 1943-1944---deaths due to epidemic from hunger

Burma taken by Japanese, cyclone in october 1942, administrators freak out
  about bay of bengal being taken by japanese, practice scorched earth policy
  to burn foodstock.

Sen says the famine was man-made
  - 1941 rice/wheat yield was higher in 1943 than in 1941, when there was no famine.

A "boom" famine
  - wartime inflation + increase in income fo rthose related to wartime production
    led to increase in food prices and increased in demand for rice.
  - Wage in rural areas did not follow the price trend.  The "entitlement"
    (purchasing power) of farm laborers decreased dramatically, and became destitute
    or paddy huskers.
      - Wages didn't adjust to price increases because they worked during summer
        but inflation happens during the fall

Government mismanagement
  - indian government prevented trade between states
  - population of calcutta (capital of bengal) must be covered---rice was
    provided regardless of price, unlike rural areas

Hoarding
  - farmers see price increase continuously
  - rational reaction for the growers is to hoard rice if they think prices
    will rise.  This cuts off supply, causing a bibble.

Mass migration into Calcutta because they get food, but it was a false assumption

Famine and Democracy
  - Sen: famines should be easy to prevent in a democracy
  - Bengal govt. made a number of mistakes
  - Churchill said "The indian people brought htis upon themselves by breading
    like rabbits," and "why isn't Gandhi dead if hte famine is so bad?"
  - Sen says 1943 was the last full-scale famine of india, and since there have
    been no famines of this size in democracies.