Everytime my father talked about the famine, I can feel the sadness and scary in his eyes.
If he can't make through, it won't be me here.
I can understand you my own parents have faced famine(not to the extent of 1962 china famine).
1972 Maharashtra drought
A child suffering
Marasmus, extreme starvation, in 1972, a drought in which there were zero deaths and one which is known for the successful employment of famine prevention policies.
[122]
After several years of good monsoons and a good crop in the early 1970s, India considered exporting food and being self-sufficient. Earlier in 1963, the government of the state of Maharashtra asserted that the agricultural situation in the state was constantly being watched and relief measures were taken as soon as any scarcity was detected. On the basis of this, and asserting that the word famine had now become obsolete in this context, the government passed the "The Maharashtra Deletion of the Term 'Famine' Act, 1963".
[123] They were unable to foresee the drought in 1972 when 25 million people needed help. The relief measures undertaken by the Government of Maharashtra included employment, programmes aimed at creating productive assets such as tree plantation, conservation of soil, excavation of canals, and building
artificial lentic water bodies. The public distribution system distributed food through fair-price shops. No deaths from starvation were reported.
[124]
Large scale employment to the deprived sections of Maharashtrian society which attracted considerable amounts of food to Maharashtra.
[125] The implementation of the Scarcity Manuals in the Bihar and Maharashtra famines prevented the mortality arising from severe food shortages. While the relief programme in Bihar was poor, Drèze calls the one in Maharashtra a model programme. The relief works initiated by the government helped employ over 5 million people at the height of the drought in Maharashtra leading to effective famine prevention.
[126] The effectiveness of the Maharashtra was also attributable to the direct pressure on the government of Maharashtra by the public who perceived that employment via the relief works programme was their right. The public protested by marching, picketing, and even rioting .
[127] Drèze reports a labourer saying "they would let us die if they thought we would not make a noise about it."
[128]
which he has declassified is total BS ?
