THE MAHARASHTRA DROUGHTS OF 1970-73: AN ANALYSIS OF SCARCITY .

The article examines the relationship of mortality and of food intake to the droughts in Maharashtra, Western India between 1970 and 1973. It attempts to determine whether the fall in consumption was a direct result of the shortfall in production brought about by the droughts, or whether there was a lack of effective demand brought about through falling employment and declining levels of real income. The article also examines how the famine affected different socio-economic groups in rural Maharashtra.