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GURU SHREE SHANTIVIJAY JAIN VIDYALAYA, SOCIAL SCIENCE NOTES, Class: VIII, Public Facilities (Civics), 1.Which is one of the major reasons Siva can’t bring his family to Chennai., (a) Shortage of money, (b) Shortage of living facilities, (c) Unemployment, (d) Shortage of water, Answer: (b) Shortage of living facilities, 2.Which companies provide public facilities but at price that only some people can afford., (a) Private companies, (b) Public companies, (c) Semi-government companies, (d) None of the above, Answer: (a) Private companies, 3.Porto Alegre is a city in ………………………… ., (a) Australia, (b) Bangladesh, (c) Brazil, (d) India, Answer: (c) Brazil, 4.The census 2001 put rural household electrification at., (a) 44%, (b) 78%, (c) 49%, (d) 52%, Answer: (a) 44%, 5.Mumbai suburban ………………………………. is well functioning public transport, system., (a) Roadways, (b) Waterways, (c) Railways, (d) None of the above, Answer: (c) Railways, 6.Under which Article of our Constitution, Right to Water gets recognition?, (a) Article 20, (b) Article 21, (c) Article 22, (d) Article 23, Answer: (b) Article 21, The Constitution of India recognizes the right to water as being a part of the Right to Life
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under Article 21. It is the right of every person, whether rich or poor, to have sufficient, amounts of water to fulfill his/her daily needs at a price that he/she can afford., 7.For what purpose bore well water is not used?, (a) Toilets, (b) Washing, (c) Gardening, (d) Cooking and drinking purposes, Answer: (d) Cooking and drinking purposes, Bore well water is brackish and is not used for cooking and drinking purpose., 8.What are the important characteristic of public facility?, (a) It benefits privileged section of the society, (b) Its benefits can be shared by many people, (c) It benefits underprivileged sections of the society, (d) None of these, Answer: (b) Its benefits can be shared by many people, The important characteristic of public facility is that its benefits can be shared by many, people., 9.What are the main source of water for the poor people?, (a) Bottled water, (b) Municipal water, (c) Water tanker, (d) Private bore well, Answer: (b) Municipal water, The main source of water for the poor people are municipal water., 10.Which is the world’s densest railway route?, (a) Mumbai, (b) Delhi, (c) Patna, (d) Mathura, Answer: (a) Mumbai, Mumbai sub-urban railway is the world’s densest railway route., 11.What is special about Porto Alegre?, (a) Highest infant death rate, (b) Lowest adult death rate, (c) Lowest infant death rate, (d) None of these, Answer: (c) Lowest infant death rate, Porto Alegre has lowest infant death rate than other cities of the world because of the, availability of safe water maintained by city water department., 12. What do you mean by the term ‘Universal access’?, (a) Physical access to property, (b) Physical access to good, (c) Physical access to water, (d) None of these, Answer: (b) Physical access to good
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Universal access is achieved when everyone has physical access to a good and can also afford, it., 13.What do you mean by right to life?, (a) Provide public facilities by government to people, (b) Provide tax free facilities, (c) Provide job facilities, (d) None of these, Answer: (a) Provide public facilities by government to people, The constitution of India guarantees right to life for all persons living in this country. The, responsibility to provide public facilities, therefore, must be that of the government., 14. What of the following is not considered as our basic needs?, (a) Food, (b) Internet, (c) Water, (d) None of these, Answer: (b) Internet, Primary requirements of food, water, shelter, healthcare, sanitation and education are, necessary for survival., 15. What are some public facilities essential for everyone?, (a) Electricity, (b) Public transport, (c) Both a and b, (d) None of these, Answer: (c) Both a and b, Electricity, Public Transport, Safe drinking water, Health care, Provision of schools colleges, and Sanitation., Write true (T) or false (F), 1. The Constitution of India recognises the right to water as being a part of the Right to Life, under Art 21., Answer: True, 2. Shortage of water is the major reason why Mr. Ramagopal can’t bring his family to, Chennai., Answer: False, 3. In budget, the government announces the various ways in which it plans to meet the, expenses., Answer: True, 4. The shortage of water has opened up opportunities for private companies in a big way., Answer: True, 5. Railways are the most important form of public transport over short distances., Answer: False, Match the following, 1., Column-I, , Column-II
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1. Mumbai, , (a) Parliament, , 2. Porto Alegre, , (b) Children between the ages of 6 – 14 ages, , 3. Government Budget being presented in the, , (c) Suburban Railway, , 4. Article 21, , (d) Right to life, , 5. Right to Education, , (e) Brazil, , Answer:, Column-I, , Column-II, , 1. Mumbai, , (c) Suburban Railway, , 2. Porto Alegre, , (e) Brazil, , 3. Government Budget being presented in, the, , (a) Parliament, , 4. Article 21, , (d) Right to life, , 5. Right to Education, , (b) Children between the ages of 6 – 14, ages, , 1. ……………………… and ……………………… are travelling through Chennai in Bus., Answer: Amu, Kumar, 2. Senior government officials like Mr. Ramagopal live in ……………………… Chennai., Answer: Anna Nagar, 3. ……………………… is essential for life and for good health., Answer: Water, 4. Every year the government budget is being presented in the ……………………… ., Answer: Parliament, 5. The government needs to play an active role in providing adequate access to proper, ……………………… facilities., Answer: health, Book Exercise Question, Why do you think there are so few cases of private water supply in the world?, Answer: Water is a basic necessity. Hence, universal access to safe drinking water is, necessary for a standard quality of life. It needs to be provided to everyone – either free of
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charge or at affordable rates. But, as private companies work towards the singular goal of, maximising profits, there was a steep rise in the price of water in cases where the, responsibility for water supply was handed over to private companies. This made water, unaffordable for many. Cities saw huge protests with riots breaking out at various places., This forced the government to take back the service from private hands. Therefore, only a, few cases of private water supply exist in the world., 2. Do you think water in Chennai is available to and affordable by all? Discuss., Answer: Water is not equally available to all citizens in Chennai. Water in Chennai is, supplied by the municipality, which fails to meet the demand 100%. Some areas get regular, water supply, while many areas get erratic supply of water. People from the middle class and, upper class buy packaged drinking water or water from tankers. The burden of water supply, shortage falls mostly on the poor, as they cannot afford the expense of tankers or packaged, water. Those who live close to the storage points get more water, while colonies further away, receive less supply., 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: Due to the shortage of water, private companies have got an opportunity and are, selling water to cities by buying it from places around the city. In Chennai, water is taken, from nearby towns like, Karungizhi Palur and Mamandur villages to the north of the city,, using a fleet of over 13,000 water tankers. Every month, the water dealers pay an advance to, farmers for the rights to exploit water sources on their land. This way, the water that is taken, away is not just creating a deficit for agriculture purpose but also increasing the shortage of, drinking water supplies in the villages. As a result, the level of ground water has dropped, drastically in all these towns and villages., 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. Since their sole motive is maximum profit, the services they offer are, costly and are affordable only by the affluent dwellers in the city., 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 While there is 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 distribution of public, facilities in our country is neither adequate nor fair. For example, the Delhites avail all public, facilities like healthcare and sanitation, water, electricity, schools, colleges and public, transport. But if we go to places a few kilometers away such as Mathura or Aligarh, people, have to face grave crises for these facilities. Water shortages and electricity cut-offs are part, of the normal routine of life in those places. Public transport is also not properly developed., Compared to the metros and large cities, towns and villages are under-provided. Compared to, wealthy localities, the poorer localities are under-serviced. Handing over these facilities to, private companies is not an answer. The important fact is that every citizen of the country has, a right to these facilities, which should be provided to all in an equitable manner., 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.
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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, , 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. While, 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., 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 Students have to do this under the guidance of their teacher., 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
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hand, educational institutes run by the government are becoming relatively less, important. What do you think would be the impact of this? Discuss., Answer Education is a basic need and there should be universal access to education. But, as, the main motive of private education institutes is earning profits, they charge high fees which, are affordable only by the affluent section of the society. Thus, the right to quality education, is only fulfilled for the rich class. Similarly, if government education institutes are not up to, the mark, then weaker sections are again deprived of quality education. This, in turn, results, in the disparity of quality education between the rich and the poor.
