A Brief Report on the Famine Relief Operations in Marwar for the year 1905-06

3. Causes which led to the scarcity—Apart from the deficient rainfall of the preceding years the causes of the sctraity were the repeated withering frosts during the abnormally severe and prolonged winter or 1905 and the absence of the rains till the middle of September when they were too meagre to rescue. [...] —The proportion of the State area dependent upon the Kharif crops alone is as high as three-fourths and it was quite on the cards that the distress might become as intense as it was in 1899-1900 but the providential rains of September materially altered the face of things saved the standing crops which for want of rain had commenced to wither and brightened the prospects of the Rabi. [...] But on the rally of the rains in September it was found that the above estimate could be reduced to nearly 16 000 persons as a result of the tour of inspection undertaken by the Senior Member in the greater part or the affected area with the object of gauging the extent of distress under the altered conditions. [...] Under the wholesome advice of the Honorable the Agent to the Gvernor-General and in accordance with the deliberations of the conference prsided over by him at Jodhpur the Darbar tested the intensity of distress in a practical manner by enforcing a somewhat stiffened but not repellent task on workers and withholding relief at the same time to the dependants (as precribed at test stage in [...] In the subrnontane districts the downpour was copious even to the extent of more than compensating for the slight damage done by the locusts; and on the whole the rainfall was satisfactory in most districts exceeding in 11 and approaching in 4 districts the average fall for the preceding 5 years.