CAPF AC 2021 Q81: Geography – Population & Demography
The widespread deaths due to starvation and epidemics are the characteristics of
- (a) famine
- (b) poverty
- (c) civil war
- (d) malnutrition
Answer: (a) famine
Explanation
What a famine is
How to think: the question gives two marks: widespread deaths from starvation and epidemics.
NCERT uses exactly these two marks to define a famine.
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Famine | Widespread deaths due to starvation, and epidemics caused by forced use of contaminated water or decaying food and by weakness from hunger |
| Poverty | Lack of income to meet basic needs; long-term condition |
| Malnutrition | Poor nutrition; weakens people but is not mass death |
| Civil war | Armed conflict inside a country |
Example: the Bengal famine of 1943 killed about thirty lakh people.
Agricultural labourers, fishermen and transport workers suffered most.
Answer: (a) famine.
Why each option is right or wrong
- (a) CORRECT. A famine is marked by widespread starvation deaths and epidemics.
- (b) Incorrect. Poverty is a lasting lack of income, not mass death by starvation.
- (c) Incorrect. A civil war kills through fighting, not mainly through starvation.
- (d) Incorrect. Malnutrition is poor nourishment; it is far short of a famine.
Key point
NCERT (Food Security in India): a famine is characterised by widespread deaths due to starvation and epidemics. The worst in India was the Bengal famine of 1943. Food security = availability, accessibility and affordability.
Remember
Famine = starvation deaths + epidemics.
Common mistakes
- Marking malnutrition, which is a health condition and not a mass disaster.
- Thinking a famine means only lack of food, forgetting the epidemics that follow.
- Confusing drought (failure of rain) with famine (mass starvation).
Exam tip
Educated guess: only one word in the options stands for a sudden mass disaster of hunger. Poverty and malnutrition are everyday conditions.
Sources
- NCERT Class IX Economics — Chapter 4: Food Security in India
- Amartya Sen, Poverty and Famines: An Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation (1981)