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

Rajasthan Board RBSE Solutions for Class 8 Social Science Civics Chapter 9 Public Facilities Textbook Exercise Questions and Answers.

RBSE Class 8 Social Science Solutions Civics Chapter 9 Public Facilities

RBSE Class 8 Social Science Civics Public Facilities InText Questions and Answers

Page-108

Question 1. 
You have seen the four situations illustrated based, on these, what impression do you get of the water situation in Chennai?
Answer: 
After looking at the four situations we conclude that there is an acute shortage of water supply all over Chennai. The rich people can get water due to their approach but it is only the poor people who face water crisis and have to wait for long hours to get water from tankers.

Question 2. 
Pick out the various sources of water for household use and from the description alongside.
Answer: 
Municipal water board, water tankers, private bore well, bottled water, etc.

Question 3. 
What, in your view, is similar, and what is different in Subramanian’s and Padma’s experiences?
Answer:
Similarity They both suffer from a shortage of water supply in their areas. They both. spend Money on using water for their daily requirements. Difference - Subramanian installed a water purification system in his house for drinking water and use borewell water for washing and in the toilet§ only. Whereas, Padma uses the borewell water for drinking and washing.

Question 4. 
Write a paragraph describing the water supply situation in your area.
Answer: 
It be written by the students on their own as each situation varies.

Question 5. 
Why does water flow in a trickle in summer in most places in India? Find out. 
Answer: 
Demand for water rises during summer whereas the generation of water remains the same or decreases in this season. People need more water for drinking and other household purposes. Farmers need more water for irrigation and . for their cattle. The level of groundwater goes down in many places making it difficult to explore water during the summer season. Due to heat, there is more evaporation which results in loss of water both at the ground and underground levels, which further decreases the water supply.

Question 6. 
Is there a general shortage of water for everyone in Chennai? Can you think of two reasons why different people get varying amounts of water?
Answer: 

1. No, Chennai does not have a water crisis for everyone. Some influential people have excess water available.

2. The two reasons why different people get varying amounts of water because:

• The areas located nearby to the area where water is stored, get more water whereas far-off slums get less water.
•  ​​Areas of the influential class get more water as compared to slums.

Page-111

Question 1. 
Whose point of view do you agree with?
Answer: 
We agree with Amu’s point of view as each and every citizen has the Right to Life. Many public facilities are a part of it.

Page-112

Question 1. 
What are public facilities? Why should the government be responsible for providing public facilities?
Answer: 
Public Facilities:
Those facilities that relate to people’s basic needs are called public facilities. For example water, sanitation, electricity, public transport, hospital, school, college, etc.

The responsibility for providing public facilities should rest with the government because our Constitution guarantees the Right to Life for all persons living in the country. The responsibility for providing public facilities, therefore, must be that of the government. 

Question 2. 
Why do you think the government must assume the overall responsibility for public facilities even when it gets private companies to do part of the job?
Answer: 
The responsibility of public facilities should rest with the government. The government should not get it done by private companies because private companies provide facilities, but they cost so much that on a few people can afford them. Those who will not be able to spend in lieu of these facilities will be deprived of leading a dignified life. But these are the basic needs of the people, which are necessary for all people of the society.

Question 3. 
Look at your water bill and find out what the minimum rate is for municipal water in your area. Does the rate increase as the use of water increases? Why do you think the* government charges a higher rate for greater use of water?
Answer: 
Yes, the rate increases as the use of water increases. Because the government rates apply on the basis of the use of water.

Question 4. 
Find out the various kinds of taxes people pay to the government by talking to a salaried person, a person running his or her own factory/business, and a shopkeeper. Share your findings in the classroom with your teacher.
Answer: 
Income taxes, sales taxes, house taxes, service taxes, etc.

Page-114

Question 1. 
(a) What do you think would happen if the government withdraws from the task of supplying water?
(b) Do you think this would be the right step?
Answer: 
(a) If the government withdraws from the task of supplying water, then private companies will come forward in the field of water supply, but there will be a huge disparity in water usage and the prices for water will increase immensely. Many people will be unable to afford water and people will become agitated water.
(b) It would not be the right step if the government withdraws from the responsibility for the water supply.

Page-115

Question 1. 
Discuss the main ideas in the above section. What do you think can be done to improve the water supply?
Answer: 
(i) To improve the water supply, the water department should make plans for rainwater harvesting so that the groundwater level can be improved.

(ii) The water supply department should collect money through fees to meet its expenses.

(iii) The services of private companies should also be availed for transportation and distribution of water when required, but the rate of water tanker should be decided by the government Water Supply Department and die same should give permissions to them for work.

Question 2. 
Do you think it is also important to conserve resources like water and electricity and to use more public transport?
Answer: 
Yes, it would lead to sustainable development.

Page-116

Question 1. 
Do you think that lack of access to proper sanitation facilities affects peoples’ lives? How? 
Answer: 
Due to the lack of proper sanitation facilities, diseases spread in people and this weakened their health. Their expenditure on health is increased due to which they have to decrease in nutritional items. The effect of all this is that the efficiency of people decreases and they become malnourished.

Question 2. 
Why do you think that this would impact women and girls more acutely? 
Answer: 
Lack of sanitation facilities affects women and girls more acutely since it becomes more difficult for them to perform these activities in open spaces.

RBSE Class 8 Social Science Public Facilities 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 so few cases of private water supply because private companies run for profit. In many places, private companies supply water through tankers or supplying drinking water in sealed bottles, but their price is so high that only some people can afford it. This facility is not available to all at an affordable rate; you will get as much as you pay. "The result will be that those who cannot afford to pay for these facilities are deprived of a respectable life. This shows that there are only a few cases of water supply in the world.

Question 2. 
Do you think water in Chennai is available to and affordable for all? Discuss.
Answer: 
Water facilities are not available to everyone in Chennai. About half of the city’s needs are met by municipal supplies. There are areas that get water more regularly than others. The burden of shortfalls in water supply falls mostly on the poor. The middle class, when faced with water shortages, is able to cope through a variety of private means such as digging borewells, buying water from tankers, and using bottled water for drinking. 
Apart from the availability of water, access to ‘safe’ drinking water is also available to some and this depends on what one can afford. Once again, the wealthy have more choices, thanks to the booming market in bottled water and water purifiers. People who can afford it have safe drinking water, whereas the poor are again left out. In reality, therefore, it seems that it is only people with money who have the right to water - a far cry from the goal of universal access to ‘sufficient and safe’ water.

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 not only taken away water from agriculture but also from the drinking water supplies of the villagers. Groundwater levels have dropped drastically in all these towns and villages as a result. Local people may oppose this exploitation of underground water. The government should also stop the exploitation of underground water and expand the public water distribution system. 

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 hospitals and private schools are located in major cities and not in towns or rural areas because cities have more public facilities as compared to towns or rural areas. In the absence of public facilities, private schools and private hospitals cannot be opened in villages or towns. Secondly, the services of private schools and private hospitals are expensive. Only the rich class can spend on these expensive services. Villages and towns lack wealth compared to cities. Due to these reasons, private schools and private hospitals are unable to open there. 

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, we do not think that the distribution of public facilities in our country is adequate and fair. For example, there is an acute water shortage in Chennai. Municipalities' supply only meets half of the city’s needs. Some areas receive regular water; some areas receive very little water As:
(1) Anna Nagar Area:
In the posh areas like Anna Nagar in Chennai, there is water in taps for 24 hours. On days when the water supply is inadequate, Mr. Ramagopal speaks to a senior official whom he knows in the municipal water board and a water tanker is easily arranged for his house.

(2) Areas like Mylapore:
Like most areas of the city, Mylapore suffers from water shortage. This area gets municipal water once in two days. A private borewell meets some of the residents’ \yater needs. Borewell water is, however, brackish so dead residents use it in their toilets and for washing. For other uses, water is purchased from tankers. People spend up to - Rs. 500-600 per month on buying water from the tankers. For drinking water, residents have installed water purification systems in their homes.

(3) Areas like Madipakkam:
The areas like Madipakkam gets water once in four days. The shortage of water is one major reason why people can’t bring their families to Chennai. For drinking, people buy bottled water.

(4) Slum in Saidapet:
For 30 hutments there is a common tap at one comer, in which water comes from a borewell for 20 minutes twice daily. A family gets to fill a maximum of three buckets within this time. The same water is used for washing and drinking. In summer, the flow becomes a trickle, so that one family gets water only at the cost of another. People have to wait long hours for water tankers. 
It is clear from these examples that the distribution of public facilities in our country is neither adequate nor fair.

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. 
Answer: 
This project work should be done by the students themselves based on the situation in their area.

Question 7. 
Are the above public facilities shared equally by all the people in your area? Elaborate.
Answer: 
No, all the people in our area are unable to share the above-mentioned public facilities equally. People of all classes live in our area. In this, economically rich people use government facilities as well as public facilities provided by private companies. Whereas the poor are dependent only on the government facilities. Poor people have to wait for hours to achieve them due to the excessive burden on government facilities. Apart from this, they also get fewer facilities like water, and electricity in small quantities.

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: 
In our country, the census work is done after every ten years. For example, the most recent census has been done in 2011. Now the next census will be in 2021. The census work is done by the Census Department. In each state, the census department seeks assistance from other state employees, especially teachers. He performs the census s work on the basis of the points set by the government.

The enumerator goes to the head of the family and takes the details of the number of household members, their names, etc.

Along with this, data is taken regarding religion, caste (if asked), business, and public facilities. The Census Department classifies, tabulates, and analyses all these data and makes general conclusions, and publishes those findings.

Question 9. 
Private educational institutions: schools, colleges, universities, and technical and vocational training institutes are coming up: in our country in a big way. On die another hand, educational institutes run by the government are becoming relatively less important. What do you think would be the impact of this? Discuss.
Answer: 
Private educational institutes have molded themselves according to the demand of time, while government educational institutions have not changed themselves in a technical 1 way according to the demand of time, due to this the importance of private educational institutes is increasing. In our opinion it may have the following effects:
(1) Increasing the importance of private educational institutions and obstructing the poor and ordinary people from getting higher education.

(2) Decreasing the importance of government educational institutions and decreasing the importance of private educational institutions will give a shock to the ideology of socio-economic justice of the Indian constitution. 

(3) People from poor sections will be deprived of higher education which will further prevent proper socio-economic development of the country.