INS 394

Presentation Discussion
Pooja Baburaj
The presentation seeks to explain the effects of philosophy and morality on policy towards
disease and disaster. We specifically focused on Victorian Charity and the subsequent shift in
social dialectics during the Victorian era. My team members Ali Butt emphasized on the local
legislations formulated to address poverty such as the Poor Law of 1834 as well as the
importance of individuals such as Charles Dickens, and William and Catherine Booth in restoring
significance on philanthropic endeavors. On the other hand, I deliberated on the influence of
Anglo-Saxon Christian principles on the charitable organizations and state policies that were
functional during the famines that struck the colonial state of India. For this, I commence with an
analysis of a primary source that was written in defense of Queen Victorias efforts to provide
famine relief in India. A critical examination of the Famine report submitted by Sir Edwin Arnold
reflects the prevalent attitudes towards resolution of crisis in colonies. A major point of
consideration is the attribution of causation to climatic and geographical conditions in India. There
is total rejection of administrative failure in addressing the famines that struck in 1896-7 as well
as 1943. Other sources reveal that several superficial factors were identified as elements that
interplayed in the occurrence of the famines, including the vegetarianism, excessive pride and
religiosity of Indian subjects. I seek to present opposing critiques of the aforementioned primary
sources by drawing up other sources that offer a refreshing perspective on the famines. The sources
include the account of social workers who engaged in the distribution of relief funds and materials.
We also reference the Woodland Commission inquiry into the Bengal Famine, which indicated
that weakness in administrative organizations aggravated the famine crisis. Furthermore, state
policies that involved reduction of relief wages as proposed by Sir Richard Temple are
reminiscent of the Poor Law.

Besides inadequate policymaking, there is a degree of cultural clash visible in case study
of the Bengal famines. As Sir Edwin Arnold romanticizes the Hindu Gods in his description of the
famine, referring to their failure in providing adequate rains to the Hindu farmers, we observe
Christian predominance in the values of the British. In addition, the missionaries who were
involved in community restoration projects saw this as a proselytizing opportunity. The fissures
that were present in the rigid Indian Caste system offered ample chance to convert the untouchable
Dalit who occupy the lowest rung in the hierarchy into Christians. The Dalits converted in
masses in order to escape the ascribed caste disabilities and to renew their social status.
Nevertheless, the benevolence of the Queen or the philanthropy of the Church clearly did not
suffice as millions suffered in the absence of a resolution to the famines. Herein, we can recall the
works of Amartya Sen, who established that the famine was the result of a food entitlement
problem and not food availability clearly demonstrating the failure of Victorian charity.
 References
Arnold, E. (1897). The Famine in India. The North American Review, 164(484), 257-272.
Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/25118780
Bailey, S. (1945). Post-Mortem on the Bengal Famine. Far Eastern Survey, 14(25), 373-
374. doi:10.2307/3022525
Famine in India. (1943). Social Service Review, 17(4), 496-499. Retrieved from
http://www.jstor.org/stable/30014164
Hall-Matthews, D. (2008). Inaccurate Conceptions: Disputed Measures of Nutritional
Needs and Famine Deaths in Colonial India. Modern Asian Studies, 42(6), 1189-1212.
Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/20488061
Sen, A. (1981). Ingredients of Famine Analysis: Availability and Entitlements. The
Quarterly Journal of Economics, 96(3), 433-464. Retrieved from
http://www.jstor.org/stable/1882681