NCERT Solutions for Class 8 Social Science Civics Chapter 7 Public Facilities contain solutions to the exercises given in the Civics book Social and Political Life. These answers have been explained in a manner that you will easily understand all the concepts and get your doubts cleared without even seeking anyone’s assistance. You can read and download all the questions and answers in PDF format.
Class 8 Civics Public Facilities NCERT Textbook Questions and Answers
Question 1: Why do you think there are so few cases of private water supply in the world?
Answer: 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.
Question 2: Do you think water in Chennai is available and affordable by all? Discuss.
Answer: Water is not equally available to all citizens in Chennai. Certain areas like Anna Nagar get copious water while areas like Saidapet receive very little water. Municipal supply meets only about half the needs of the people of the city, on an average. Areas that are close to the storage points get more water whereas colonies further away receive less water. 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, buying water from tankers and using bottled water for drinking. The wealthy have safe drinking water, whereas the poor are again left out. In reality, universal access to ‘sufficient and safe’ water, in Chennai, is still a dream.
Question 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 groundwater? Can the government do anything in this regard?
Answer: 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.
Question 4: Why are most of the private hospitals and private schools located in major cities and not in towns or rural areas?
Answer: Most of the private schools and hospitals are located in the cities, rather than in towns or villages. Because their sole motive is maximum profit, the services they offer are costly and are affordable only by the affluent dwellers in the city.
Question 5: Do you think the distribution of public facilities in our country is adequate and fair? Give an example of your own to explain.
Answer: No, the distribution of public facilities in our country is neither adequate nor fair. For example, the people in metro cities like Delhi avail all public facilities like healthcare and sanitation, water, electricity, schools, colleges and public transport. But in the smaller towns and rural areas, people have to face grave crises for these facilities. People in such areas have to suffer from severe water shortages and electricity cut-offs. They do not have a well developed public transport system.
Question 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 | ||
| Road | ||
| Public Transport |
Answer
| Is it available? | How can it be improved? | |
| Water | yes | Constructing separate water tanks and making water supply available 24 hours. |
| Electricity | yes | Making electricity supply available 24 hours by keeping a check on electricity theft and its conservation |
| Road | yes | No improvement needed. But if there are no proper roads, then the construction of new roads, more flyovers and highways will be of help |
| Public Transport | yes | Public transport is good, but better connectivity to more areas in the city can be achieved by introducing new buses and increasing the frequency of buses |
Question 7: Are the above public facilities shared equally by all the people in your area? Elaborate.
Answer No the above-mentioned facilities are not shared equally in the areas. Water supply is not shared equally by all the people. The slum dwellers have to manage with a single water tap, where each house in a middle-class locality has a separate connection for water. When people of middle-class homes buy water from tankers to meet their needs, those in slums cannot afford it. However, other facilities, like electricity, road and public transport are shared equally by all.
Question 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.
Answer: Census is conducted after every ten years. It counts the entire population of the country. It also collects detailed information about the citizens like their age, schooling, occupations, etc.
Question 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.
Answer: The facilities and infrastructure in educational institutes run by the government are not up to the mark. Private educational institutions have better facilities and infrastructure; however, they 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. This will widen the economic and social disparity among the rich and poor. Consequently, the overall progress of the country will be hampered.