ABSTRACT
The contrast between the elimination of famines and the toleration of endemic malnutrition is a part of the reflection of the political and economic forces governing the entitlement to food. The same is true of several of the other main themes of development economics. The theme of state activism and planning raises important political issues. The operation of political forces affecting entitlements can be far from simple. For example, with the present political system in India, it is almost impossible for a famine to take place. Entitlement is a complex relation, and the political, economic and social forces governing it are difficult to analyse. In a socialist economy that operates partly outside the market system, the entitlements will depend on what the families can get from the State through the established system of command. The setting-up of such a relief operation is partly a matter of political and social pressure.
