The sentence demands some quantity to be given with the noun ‘people’. So, it demands an adjective of quantity. Adjectives of quantity describe the quantity or the estimated amount of the noun or pronoun. Adjective of Quantity do not state exact numbers of quantity and only tell us the approximate amount of the noun or the pronoun.
In this sentence, option A is ruled out as ‘the’ is an article and not an adjective of quantity. Options B, C and D can be used as adjective of quantity. Option B cannot be used as ’little’ is used with uncountable nouns like salt, sugar, etc. and ‘people’ is a countable noun. Option D cannot be used as ‘any’ refers to single entity like person, when used with countable nouns and ‘people’ refers to more than one person. So, Option C or ‘some’ is the correct option as it can correctly be used with the noun ‘people.’