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History Optional PYQ Master Pack · Model answer

‘Famines were not just because of foodgrain scarcity, but were a direct result of colonial economic policies’. Critically examine.

  • UPSC 2022
  • Economic Impact of British Colonial Rule

Famine has always been explained partly by natural failure — drought, flood, crop disease — but colonial India's experience shows scarcity was frequently manufactured or worsened by policy choices rather than by nature alone.

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What the full answer covers

  • Colonial Economic Policies That Directly Undermined Food Security
  • The Underlying Logic: Why These Policies Were Adopted
  • Counter-Arguments and Complicating Evidence
  • Weighing the Debate

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