Public Facilities NCERT Class 8 Social and Political life
Q1. What are public facilities? What are its important characteristics?
Ans. Primary requirements like food, water, shelter, sanitation, healthcare, education etc which are necessary for survival are referred to as public facilities. The important characteristic of public facilities is that the benefits provided by public facilities can be shared by many people.
For e.g.:-
· A school in a village will enable many children to get education.
Q2. Why do you think that there are so few cases of private water supply in world?
Ans. There are so few cases of private water supply in world as
1. It is more expensive and private companies only think of their profits so people cannot afford it.
Q3. Why most of the private hospitals & private schools are located in major cities and not in towns or rural areas?
Ans. Most private schools and hospitals are located in major cities because in small towns and rural areas there is not a constant supply of electricity and hospitals and schools need constant supply. Hence in rural areas hospital & schools are not available.
Q4. Write a short note on “Water a part of fundamental Right to Life”.
Ans.
1. The constitution of India recognized the right to water as being a part of right to life under article.
2. This means that it is the right of every person, whether rich or poor to have sufficient amount of water to fulfill daily needs at a price they can afford.
3. There should be “Universal access” to water.
Q5. Do you think water is available in Chennai and affordable by all? Discuss.
Ans.
· Water supply in Chennai is marked by shortages.
· Municipal supply meets only about half the needs of the people of the city,
on an average.
· There are areas which get more water regularly than others. Those areas are close to the storage points get more water whereas colonies further away receive less water.
· Apart from the availability of water access to ‘safe’ drinking water is also available to some and this depends on what one can afford.
· The burden of shortfalls in water supply falls mostly on the poor.
· The middle class, when faced with water shortages are able to cope through a variety of private means such as digging bore wells, burying water from tankers and using bottled water for drinking.
Q6. How is 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?
Ans.
· Many private companies are providing water to cities by burying it from the farmers living in nearly villages.
This affects the local people in the following ways:-
· Ground water levels have dropped drastically.
· Water is taken away from agriculture.
· Drinking water supplies of the village is also affected.
· It will result in decline of water rate.
Local people can object to such exploitation of ground water since it takes away their fundamental rights – right to life which includes right to water. Yes, the govt. can take certain steps to prevent such situation.
Q7. Do you think the distribution of public facilities in our country is adequate and fair?
Ans. While there is a no doubt that public facilities should be made available to all, in reality we see that there is a great shortage of such facilities.
· The burden of shortfalls of facilities falls most on the poor.
· The middle class when faced with such shortages are able to cope through variety of private means.
· IT is quite true that people who can’t afford to pay such facilities will be deprived of the opportunity to live a decent life.
For Example:-
- In Anna Nagar, Chennai lives Mr. Ramagopal who is a rich man. This area looks lush & green with lawns maintained by a generous spraying of water. Bungalows here have tap water for major part of the day.
- On days, when water supply is inadequate, Mr. Rama gopal calls to a senior official whom he knows is the municipal water board and a water tanker is easily arranged for his house.
Q8. What do you think can be done to conserve water and improve its supply?
1. Wise and judicious use of water is the most important step to conserve water.
2. Several initiatives for rainwater harvesting to improve ground water level needs to be taken.
3. It also requires the use of services of private companies for transporting and distributing water to ensure regular supply.
4. Every citizen of the country has the right to all the facility provided by the government in an equitable manner.
Q9) Why do you think that government must assume the overall responsibility for public facilities even if it gets private companies to do a part of it?
Ans)1. Private companies operate for profit in the market.
./ In most of the public facilities there is no profit to be made. Thus private companies will probably not interested in undertaking such work.
2. Private companies provide public facilities at prices that only some people can afford. Hence not available to all at affordable rate.
3. Public facilities relate to people’s basic needs. The constitution guarantees the Right to life for all Indians.
4. Therefore the responsibility to provide public facilities must be that of government only.
Public Facilities NCERT Class 8 Social and Political life Extra Questions
Question-1
Mention some public facilities that are provided by the government.
Solution:
Public facilities provided by the government are:- Health care
Water
Sanitation
Transport
Education
Electricity
Roads
Question-2
Which Article in the Indian Constitution recognises the ‘right to water’?
Solution:
The Constitution of India recognises the right to water as being a part of the Right to Life under Article 21.
Question-3
What is Universal Access to water?
Solution:
Every person, rich or poor, has the right to sufficient amount of water to meet their daily needs, at a price they can afford. This is known as Universal Access to water.
Question-4
What are the characteristics of Public facilities?
Solution:
The benefits of public facility can be shared by many people. Government schools enable many children to get educated. The supply of electricity is essential for all households. Farmers can run pump sets to irrigate their fields; people open small workshops that run on electricity.
Public transport help people commute at an affordable price. Public parks and libraries provide recreation for the citizens. Health care and sanitation are essential for a healthy life.
Question-5
Mention some public facilities that only the government can provide and maintain.
Solution:
Roads
Railways
Sanitation
Water supply
Electricity
Question-6
Mention a few public facilities that are provided by private companies.
Solution:
Schools and colleges
Hospitals
Transportation
The above mentioned facilities are provided by the government and private companies. We can find many private educational institutions in cities. Long distance buses are operated by private companies; similarly there are many Private Hospitals that provide health care for the citizens.
Question-7
How does the government raise fund to provide public facilities?
Solution:
The main source of income for the government is through the tax it collects from the citizens.
Some of the types of taxes the government collects are………..
Income Tax
Property Tax
Sales Tax
Excise Duty
Water Tax
Vehicle Tax
With the revenue from the tax collected, the government provides the public facilities mentioned earlier.
Question-8
What is a Government Budget?
Solution:
The government plans its expenditure, making a clear statement on the amount of money it is going to spend on each facility.
This statement is called the ‘Government Budget’ and is presented in the Parliament and Legislature every year in the month February / March.
Question-9
What is sanitation?
Solution:
Sanitation is measures taken up by the government to protect public health through proper solid waste disposal, sewage disposal, and cleanliness during food processing and preparation.
Question-10
Write a short note on Sulabh International.
Solution:
Sulabh International is an Indian based social service organization which works to promote human rights, environmental sanitation, non-conventional sources of energy, waste management and social reforms through education. Sulabh was founded by Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak in 1970 and has 50,000 volunteers.
The organization constructs and maintains pay-&-use public toilets, popularly known as Sulabh Complexes with bath, laundry and urinal facilities being used by about ten million people every day.
There are more than 7,500 public toilet blocks and 1.2 million private toilets. The majority of the users of Sulabh facilities are from the poor working class.
Mention some public facilities that are provided by the government.
Solution:
Public facilities provided by the government are:- Health care
Water
Sanitation
Transport
Education
Electricity
Roads
Question-2
Which Article in the Indian Constitution recognises the ‘right to water’?
Solution:
The Constitution of India recognises the right to water as being a part of the Right to Life under Article 21.
Question-3
What is Universal Access to water?
Solution:
Every person, rich or poor, has the right to sufficient amount of water to meet their daily needs, at a price they can afford. This is known as Universal Access to water.
Question-4
What are the characteristics of Public facilities?
Solution:
The benefits of public facility can be shared by many people. Government schools enable many children to get educated. The supply of electricity is essential for all households. Farmers can run pump sets to irrigate their fields; people open small workshops that run on electricity.
Public transport help people commute at an affordable price. Public parks and libraries provide recreation for the citizens. Health care and sanitation are essential for a healthy life.
Question-5
Mention some public facilities that only the government can provide and maintain.
Solution:
Roads
Railways
Sanitation
Water supply
Electricity
Question-6
Mention a few public facilities that are provided by private companies.
Solution:
Schools and colleges
Hospitals
Transportation
The above mentioned facilities are provided by the government and private companies. We can find many private educational institutions in cities. Long distance buses are operated by private companies; similarly there are many Private Hospitals that provide health care for the citizens.
Question-7
How does the government raise fund to provide public facilities?
Solution:
The main source of income for the government is through the tax it collects from the citizens.
Some of the types of taxes the government collects are………..
Income Tax
Property Tax
Sales Tax
Excise Duty
Water Tax
Vehicle Tax
With the revenue from the tax collected, the government provides the public facilities mentioned earlier.
Question-8
What is a Government Budget?
Solution:
The government plans its expenditure, making a clear statement on the amount of money it is going to spend on each facility.
This statement is called the ‘Government Budget’ and is presented in the Parliament and Legislature every year in the month February / March.
Question-9
What is sanitation?
Solution:
Sanitation is measures taken up by the government to protect public health through proper solid waste disposal, sewage disposal, and cleanliness during food processing and preparation.
Question-10
Write a short note on Sulabh International.
Solution:
Sulabh International is an Indian based social service organization which works to promote human rights, environmental sanitation, non-conventional sources of energy, waste management and social reforms through education. Sulabh was founded by Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak in 1970 and has 50,000 volunteers.
The organization constructs and maintains pay-&-use public toilets, popularly known as Sulabh Complexes with bath, laundry and urinal facilities being used by about ten million people every day.
There are more than 7,500 public toilet blocks and 1.2 million private toilets. The majority of the users of Sulabh facilities are from the poor working class.
