History Solution Class 8 Chapter 9

9. Public Facilities

Facts that Matter

·         Public facilities relate to our basic needs such as water, health, education etc.

·         The government is expected to play a major role in providing public facilities to all.

·         Water is the basic need of the people. It is essential for life and for good health.

·         Safe drinking water can prevent several water-borne diseases such as diarrhoea, dysentery, cholera, etc. unfortunately India has the largest number of cases of these diseases.

·         Children below the age of five reportedly die every day because of these diseases.

·         It means safe drinking water is not available to all.

·         Our constitution recognises the Right to Water as being a part of the Right to Life under Article 21. It means that there should be universal access to water. But in reality it does not happen so.

·         Not only water but other public facilities such as health care, electricity, public transport, schools and collages also need to be provided for all.

·         The chief feature of a public facility is that once it is provided, its benefits can be shared by several people. For example, if an area is supplied with electricity it means that the entire people of that area can use its benefit.

·         One of the most important functions of the government is to ensure that public facilities are made available to everyone.

·         The government gets money for public facilities from the taxes collected from the people.

·         The government is empowered to collect these taxes and use them for such programmes. For example, to supply water the government has to incur cost in pumping water, carrying it over long distances, laying down pipes for distribution, treating the water for impurities and finally, collecting and treating waste water. It meets these expenses partly from the various taxes that it collects and partly by charging a price for water. This price is set so that most people can effort a certain minimum amount of water for daily use.

·         Although public facilities should be made available to all, in reality we find their shortage. As mentioned above water is public facility of great importance. But the tragedy is that it is not available to all.

·         The poor are the worst sufferers because they don’t have money to purchase water from private companies.

·         Crisis of water becomes acute during the summer months in several cities of the country.

·         The shortage in municipal water is increasingly being filled by an expansion of private companies who are selling water for profit.

·         A shortage of municipal water is often taken as a failure of the government.

·         Our constitution recognises many of the public facilities as being a part of the Right to life. Now it is the government’s responsibility to see that these rights are protected so that everyone can lead a good life.

Words that Matter

·         Public facilities: they are associated with our basic needs such as water, electricity, public transport, etc.

·         Universal access: Universal access in achieved when everyone has physical access to a good condition or can also afford it.

·         Sanitation: Provision of facilities for the safe disposal of human and faeces.

·         Company: A company is a form of business set up by people or by the government.

In Text Questions Solved

1. What do you think would happen if the government withdraws from the task of supplying water?

The crisis of water will take more acute form. The poor would be the worst sufferers. They could not buy water at high price from private companies.

2. Do you think it is important to conserve resources like water and electricity, an to use more public transport?

It is very important to conserve these resources because their scarcity will create numerous problems.

3. Do you think that lack of access to proper sanitation facilities affects people live? How?

It will directly affect the health of the people. They will become the victims of several diseases such as diarrhoea, dysentery, etc. a person with ill-health would not be able to work efficiently. Hence, it is important to make available proper sanitation facilities to all.

4. Why do you think that would impact women and girls more acutely?

Because they usually given less attention.

Questions from Textbook

1. Why do you think there are so few cases of private water supply in the world?

Whenever the responsibility of water supply is handed over to private companies, there is a steep rise in the price of water, making it unaffordable for many. Cities have to see huge protests forcing the government to take back to the service from private hands. It is, therefore, there are so few cases of private water supply in the world.

2. Do you think water in Chennai is available and affordable by all? Discuss.

No, water in Chennai is not available and affordable by all. Municipal supply meets only about half the needs of the people of the city, on an average. There are areas which get water more regularly than others. Those areas that are close to the storage point get more water whereas colonies farther away receive less water.

The poor are the worst victims of the shortfalls in water supply. The middle class people manage water through a variety of private means such as digging bore wells, buying water from tankers and using bolted water for drinking. But the poor have to face the problem because unlike wealthy and middle class people they do not have money to buy bottled water, or to dig bore wells.

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?

The sale of water by farmers to water dealers in Chennai has badly affected the local people. They have to face acute water crisis in their life. Their agriculture suffers, because they fail to manage water for irrigation.

Local people can object to such exploitation of ground water, because its levels have dropped drastically.

The government can do much in this regard. It can ban private companies from entering in towns and villages. It can punish those farmers who are indulged in selling of water to private companies for money.

4. Why most of the private hospitals and private schools located in major cities and not in towns and rural areas?

Private hospitals and private schools provide costly services, which people in town or rural areas fail to afford. But people in big cities always prefer to go to these places.

5. Do you think the distribution of public facilities in our country is adequate and fair? Give an example of your own to explain.

No, the distribution of public facilities in our country is neither adequate nor fair.

Take an example of electricity. It is not supplied to public in sufficient measure. In VIP areas, it is abundant and people there avail facilities of ACs, heaters etc. but in middle class and lower class areas people get electricity only for a few hours and sometimes they don’t get it for several days.

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.

Facilities	Is it available?	How can it be improved?
Water	Yes	The hours of water supply should be extended
Electricity	Yes	·         Misuse of power should be checked ·         Street lights should not be kept on during the day time. ·         Illegal connections should be checked.
Roads	Yes	·         Good material should be used in road construction. ·         Whenever, any portion of the roads is in bad condition, it should be repaired immediately.
Public Transport	No	It should be started.

7. Are the above public facilities shared equally by all the people in your area? Elaborate.

The above facilities are not shared equally by all the people in my area. The people living in posh localities avail better facilities. They hardly face a minute without water or electricity. But people living in the outskirts have to face the crisis of both water and electricity.

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.

The census is conducted every 10 years. It counts the entire population of the country. It also collects detailed information about the people living in India-their age, schooling, the work they do, etc. this information is used to measure several things such as the number of literate people and the ratio of males and females.

9. Private educational institutions-schools, 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.

The monopoly of private educational institutions will be established. Money will have a major role in such establishments. This will marginalise those who belong to the have-nots

More Questions Solved

I. Multiple Choice Questions:.

Choose the correct option:

i) Which one of the following is not a public facility?

a) Water          b) Electricity    c) House          d) Schools

ii) Our Constitution guarantees the Right to Education for all children between the ages of…………..

a) 6-14 years   b) 6-12 years   c) 5-10 years   d) 5-12 years

iii) Which one of the following is a waterborne disease………….

a) Polio            b) Tuberculosis            c) Dysentery   d) Missals

iv) The most important form of public transport over short distance is…….

a) Auto-rickshaw         b) Bus              c) Metro rail   d) Car

v) According to the standard set by the urban water commission, the supply of water per person in an urban area in India should be about…..

a) 185 litres per day               b) 165 litres per day

c) 140 litres per day                d) 135 litres per day

II. Fill in the blanks:

Fill in the blanks:

i) Mumbai’s suburban railway is well functioning public transport system.

ii) A shortage of municipal water is often taken as a sign of failure of the government.

iii) In rural areas water is needed both for human use and for use by the cattle.

iv) The Constitution of India recognises the Right to Water as being a part of the Right to Life under Article 21.

v) It is the responsibility of the government to provide public facilities to everyone.

III. True/False

State whether each of the following statements is True or False.

i) It is the duty if private companies to provide safe drinking water to all. False

ii) Compared to the rural areas, there is an even greater shortage of public water supply in urban areas. False

iii) Many private companies are providing water to cities by buying it from places around the city. True

iv) The important feature of a public facility is that once it is provided, its benefits can be shared by many people. True

v) Clean water is essential in every household work. False

IV. Matching Skills:

Match the items given in Column A correctly with those given in Column B.

Column A                                                       Column B

i) Polio                                                 a) A preventable disease

ii) Cholera                                           b) A water-borne disease

iii) Mumbai’s suburban railway          c) The densest route in the world.

iv) Sulabh                                            d) A non-government organisation

v) Basic needs                            e) Primary requirements of food water, etc.

IV. Very short answer type questions:

1. Why do the residents of Subramanian’s Apartments in Mylapore use bore well water in their toilets for washing?

It is because bore well water is brackish.

2. How do they manage water for other uses?

For other uses, they purchase water from tankers.

3. How do they manage water for drinking?

For drinking water, they have installed water purification systems in their homes.

4. What is the position of water availability in the slum area where Padma lives?

For 30 hutments there is a common tap at one corner, in which water comes from a bore well for 20 minutes twice daily.

5. How can deaths due to diarrhoea and dysentery be prevented?

By making safe drinking water accessible to all.

6. What does Right to Water mean?

It means that it is the right of every person, whether rich or poor, to have sufficient amounts of water to fulfil his/her daily needs at a price that he/she can afford.

7. What are known as public facilities?

Facilities like water, electricity, public transport, schools and colleges, healthcare and sanitation are known as public facilities.

8. Write the important characteristics of a public facilities.

Once it is provided, its benefits can be shared by many people.

9. Whose responsibility of the government to ensure public facilities to everyone?

This is the responsibility of the government to ensure public facilities to everyone.

10. What are the sources of water in rural areas?

In rural areas the sources of water are-wells, hand pumps, ponds and sometimes overhead tanks.

V. Short Answer Type Questions:

1. Why should the government bear the responsibility to provide public facilities to everyone?

If private companies are given the responsibility to provide public facilities such as water, they will charge more. In such a situation only some people can afford to buy water. Thus, even though private companies are providing the facility of water, but this facility is not available to all at an affordable rate. If we go by the rule that people will get as much as they can pay for them many people who can not afford to pay for such facilities will be deprived of the opportunity to live a decent life. Obviously, this is not a desirable option. Public facilities relate to our basic needs. The Right to Life that the Constitution guarantees is for all person living in this country. Therefore, it should be the government’s responsibility to provide public facilities to all.

2. How can you say that there are great inequalities in water use?

It is a fact that there are great inequalities in water use. The supply of water per person in an urban area in India should be about 135 litres (about seven buckets) per day. It is a standard set by the Urban Water Commission. But people living in slum areas have to do with less than 20 litres (one bucket) a day per person. At the same time people living in luxury hotels may consume as much as 1600 litres (80 buckets) of water per day.

3. Some people are of the opinion that private companies should be allowed to take over the task of water supply. Why do they opine so?

Some people opine that since the government is unable to supply the amount of water that is needed and many of the municipal water departments are running at a loss, they should allow private companies to take over the task of water supply. According to them, private companies can perform better.

4. What do you know about the Right to Education? What have activists and scholars working on education found out?

Our Constitution guarantees the Right to Education for all children between the ages of 6 to 14 years. The important aspect of this Right is to make available equal schooling facilities to all children. However, activists and scholars working on education are of different opinion. They have documented the fact that schooling in India continue to be highly unequal.

5. In some parts of the country water supply has been improved. Explain giving examples of Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai.

Mumbai- The water supply department in Mumbai raises enough money through water charges to cover its expenses on supplying water. In Hyderabad, a recent report shows that the department has increased coverage and improved performance in revenue collection.

In Chennai, the department has taken several initiatives for harvesting rainwater to increase the level of ground water. It has also the services of private companies for transporting and distributing water.

6. Write a short note on ‘Sulabh’.

Sulabh is a non-government organisation (NGO). It has been working for three decades to address the problems of sanitation which the low caste and low income group of people are facing. It has constructed more than 7500 public toilet blocks and 1.2 million private toilets. Now 10 million people have got access to sanitation. Usually the poor working class people use Sulabh facilities.

Sulabh enters into contracts with municipalities or other local authorities to construct toilet blocks with government funds. Local authorities provide land and fund, for setting up the services. So far maintenance costs are related they are financed through user charges.

7. Discuss the role of the government in regard to public facilities.

Public facilities are associated with our basic needs. Our Constitution recognises many of the public facilities as being a part of the Right of Life. Therefore, the government must see that these rights are protected so that everyone can lead a decent life. But its efforts are not successful to some extent. There is a supply and there are inequalities in distribution. Metros and large cities are not in very bad condition but towns and villages are underprovided. In comparison to wealthy localities, the poorer localities are under-serviced.

The government is expected to take steps in order to make all the public facilities accessible to everyone. So far we are concerned, we must cooperate with the government.