question_answer

Read the source and answer the following questions.

China’s famine of 1958-1961 was the worst recorded famine in world history. ‘Nearly three crore Chinese people died in this famine. During those days, India’s economic condition was not much better than China. Yet India did not have a famine of the kind China had. Economists think that this was a result of different government policies in the two countries. The existence of democracy in India made the Indian government respond to food scarcity in a way that the Chinese government did not. They point out that no large-scale famine has ever taken place in an independent and democratic country. If China too had multi-party elections, an opposition party and a press free to criticise the government, then so many people may not have died in the famine. This example brings out one of the reasons why democracy is considered the best form of government?

Democracy is better than any other form of government in responding to the needs of the people. A non-democratic government may and can respond to the people’s needs, but it all depends on the wishes of the people who rule.

If the rulers don’t want to, they don’t have to act according to the wishes of the people. A democracy requires that the rulers have to attend to the needs of the people. A democratic government is a better government because it is a more accountable form of government.

Why was China’s famine of 1958-1961 regarded as the worst recorded famine in the world?

A) No Asian country faced such a devastating famine.

B) Half of the population died in this famine.

C) Almost three crore Chinese people died.

D) Both (a) and (b)