NCERT Solutions Class 8, Social Science, Civics, Chapter- 7, Public Facilities.
1. Why do you think there are so few cases of private water supply in the world?
Solution:
There are very few cases of private water supply in the world because water is an essential amenity; water supply is a public facility that every government must provide to all citizens of a State. In cases where water supply was placed in the hands of private companies, the prices of water rose, making it unaffordable to the masses. This resulted in riots, protests and violent demonstrations in countries like Bolivia. Hence, it has been deemed best that the government must handle water supply services.
2. Do you think water in Chennai is available to and affordable by all? Discuss.
Solution:
Water in Chennai is not available to and affordable by all. Availability of a good, regular water supply is proportionate to the level of income one earns, in this city. Senior government officials in areas like Anna Nagar can get a whole water tanker arranged for themselves; most areas like Mylapore get water once in two days; in Madipakkam, people buy bottled water for drinking purposes but the situation is the worst in slums. Here, water supply runs for barely an hour everyday from a single tap serving over thirty families for all their water needs.
3. How is the sale of water by farmers to water dealers in Chennai affecting the local people? Do you think local people can object to such exploitation of ground water? Can the government do anything in this regard?
Solution:
The sale of water by farmers to water dealers in Chennai has affected the local people drastically. This water is taken away from agricultural use and drinking water supply for the locals. Water that was free or affordable is now too expensive for the poor to buy. Local people can object to such exploitation of ground water because water is an essential amenity that should be provided free or at basic costs to all. The government must disallow private companies from buying and supplying water since this is a public facility- a function of the state governments.
4. Why are most of the private hospitals and private schools located in major cities and not in towns or rural areas?
Solution:
Most private hospitals and private schools are located in major cities and not in towns or rural areas because being private enterprises, they are expensive. The wealthy and elite live in more urban and capitalized areas like metropolitans or big cities where business booms are aplenty; these capitalist forms of wealth are missing in towns or rural areas where agriculture is a more dominant but less profiting form of employment.
5. Do you think the distribution of public facilities in our country is adequate and fair? Give an example of your own to explain.
Solution:
The distribution of public facilities in our country is inadequate and largely unfair. For example, urban areas are provided with and consume more electricity than villages or townships. Most metropolitan cities consume vast amounts of power for market-places, multiplexes and air-conditioning while villages and towns bear huge power-cuts even in summer so much so that there is no electricity available to them for domestic purposes too. This is a gaping gap in the distribution of just one of the public facilities provided by the government.
6. Take some of the public facilities in your area, such as water, electricity, etc. Is there scope to improve these? What in your opinion should be done? Complete the table.
|
Is it available? |
How can it be improved? |
| Water |
|
|
| Electricity |
|
|
| Roads |
|
|
| Public Transport |
|
|
Solution:
|
Is it available? |
How can it be improved? |
| Water |
Yes |
There should be 24 hour supply of water. |
| Electricity |
Yes |
There should be 24 hour supply of electricity |
| Roads |
Yes |
Roads are good and there is no need for improvement. |
| Public Transport |
Yes |
Public transport is good, but we need better connectivity with some more areas of the city. |
7. Are the above public facilities shared equally by all the people in your area? Elaborate.
Solution:
If we look our are than all the facilities are not equally shared among the various people. Still more than 20% percent people are living below the poverty line. Not only food they do not have access to pure and drinking water.
If we look rich people than they have easy access to all the things. They can purchase sealed water bottles of branded companies also they have pure drinking water connection from the private companies.
8. Data on some of the public facilities are collected as part of the Census. Discuss with your teacher when and how the Census is conducted.
Solution:
Last census was conducted in the year 2011. Census is conducted every ten years. Or this the government appoints special people who collects the data by going door to door. This collected data is compared with last figures in which suitable actions are taken.The Census work is very useful from many angles. This work provide detailed and complete datas on some of the public facilities. Looking at these datas we can compare the socio-economic status of different people, classes, communities, regions and even of genders. We can get a clear picture of development of urban as well as of rural areas. The local, state and central government can plan for future basic facilities, for social and economic justice etc.
9. Private educational institutions – schools, colleges, universities, technical and vocational training institutes are coming up in our country in a big way. On the other hand, educational institutes run by the government are becoming relatively less important. What do you think would be the impact of this? Discuss.
Solution:
Private educational institutions levy very high fees, which only affluent people can afford. So quality education will be the right of only the rich. If educational institutions run by the government are not up to the mark, the weaker sections of the society are deprived of quality education. The end result of this disparity will be that only the rich will get good education while the poor will be deprived of it.
