The Famine Inquiry Commission appointed in 1944 to enquire into the Bengal famine of 1943 was headed by:
- A.Sir Richard Strachey
- B.Sir Antony MacDonnell
- C.Sir John Woodhead
- D.Sir George Campbell
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is C, Sir John Woodhead. The Famine Inquiry Commission of 1944, under the former Chief Secretary of Bengal Sir John Woodhead, enquired into the Bengal famine of 1943 and held administrative failure, the loss of Burmese rice and the absence of a proper relief policy responsible for the deaths. Option A is wrong because Sir Richard Strachey headed the Famine Commission of 1880 after the great famine of 1876–78, which produced the first Famine Code. Option B is wrong because Sir Antony MacDonnell headed the Famine Commission of 1901 after the famine at the turn of the century. Option D is wrong because Sir George Campbell enquired into the Orissa famine of 1866, the first such commission in British India. Candidates should keep the famine commissions in order of their famines: Campbell for Orissa, Strachey for 1876-78, Lyall for 1896-97, MacDonnell for 1899-1900 and Woodhead for Bengal in 1943.
Read the full article: Commissions and Committees of British India: Years and Chairmen
Practice Questions
View allWhen was Simon Commission sent to India?
- A.1937
- B.1927
- C.1917
- D.1958
Show answer
The British Government announced the Indian Statutory Commission in November 1927 under Sir John Simon to review the working of the Government of India Act, 1919; the commission itself reached Bombay on 3 February 1928 and submitted its report in 1930.
Read the full explanation →A resolution boycotting the Simon Commission was passed at the 1927 ____ Congress session.
- A.Kanpur
- B.Lucknow
- C.Lahore
- D.Madras
Show answer
The annual session of the Indian National Congress held at Madras in December 1927, presided over by Dr M. A. Ansari, resolved to boycott the Simon Commission at every stage and in every form, and the same session passed a resolution on complete independence.
Read the full explanation →The Simon Commission which was sent by the British Government was boycotted because:
- A.The Commission curbed financial independence of India.
- B.The Commission did not have any Indian member.
- C.There were differences amongst the members.
- D.It gave special powers to the Princely states.
Show answer
All seven members of the Indian Statutory Commission were British members of Parliament, among them Clement Attlee, and Indians of every party read this as a declaration that they were unfit to decide their own constitution; hence the boycott and the slogan 'Simon, go back'.
Read the full explanation →Which commission recommended the establishment of a central bank for India, a recommendation that took shape as the Reserve Bank of India?
- A.Fowler Commission
- B.Chamberlain Commission
- C.Hilton Young Commission
- D.Babington Smith Committee
Show answer
The Royal Commission on Indian Currency and Finance of 1926, named after its chairman Edward Hilton Young, recommended that the functions of currency and credit be taken away from the Government and handed to a central bank; the recommendation was carried out by the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934…
Read the full explanation →The Indian Education Commission of 1882, appointed during the viceroyalty of Lord Ripon, was headed by:
- A.Sir Charles Wood
- B.Sir William Wilson Hunter
- C.Sir Thomas Raleigh
- D.Sir Michael Sadler
Show answer
The Indian Education Commission of 1882, known as the Hunter Commission, reviewed the progress of education since Wood's Despatch and recommended that the State pay special attention to primary education in the vernacular and hand schools over to the newly created local boards, in keeping with Ripon's local self-government resolution.
Read the full explanation →