NCERT Solutions for Class 8 Social Science Civics Chapter 9 Public Facilities

Question 1.
Why do you think there are so few cases of private water supply in the world?
Solution:
Private companies work for a profit. Providing public facilities like water supply is not a profitable business. More over the capital needed to provide water supply to the entire population is very high which very few private companies will be able to bear.

Question 2.
Do you think water in Chennai is available and affordable by all? Discuss.
Solution:
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 ground water? Can the government do anything in this regard?
Solution:
Many private companies are providing water to cities due to shortage of water supply by the government organization. These companies buy water from places around the city.

In Chennai, water is taken from nearby towns like Mamandur, Palur, Karungizhi and from villages to the north of the city using a fleet of over 13,000 water tankers. Every month the water dealers pay farmers an advance for the rights to exploit water sources on their land. The water that is taken away from the farms is creating a deficit for irrigation and for drinking water for the villagers. There is also a drastic drop in ground water levels in these areas.
The local people have a right to object to this exploitation and the government has the power to stop this.

Question 4.
Why are most of the private hospitals and private schools located in major cities and not in towns or rural areas?
Solution:
Private hospital and private schools are located only in major cities as the services they offer are very costly and only the affluent city dweller will be able to afford it.

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.
Solution:
The distribution of public facilities in our country is neither adeduate no fair.for example, the Delhites avail all public facilities like water, healthcare and sanitation, electricity, public transport, schools and colleges. But if we go few kilometers away, for example, Mathura or Aligarh people face grave crises of public facilites. Electricity cut-off, water shorthages are normal routine of life. Public transport is also not properly developed.

Question 6.
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