NCERT Class 8 Political Science Chapter 9: Public Facilities YouTube Lecture Handouts

Watch Video Lecture on YouTube: NCERT Class 8 Political Science / Polity / Civics Chapter 9: Public Facilities

NCERT Class 8 Political Science / Polity / Civics Chapter 9: Public Facilities

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Water Issues

Prosperous Areas – Abundant water for spraying in & around bungalows – if shortage is there – immediate water tanks are made available
Other Areas – Borewell water (brackish – not potable) – water purification systems
Further other Areas – People get bottled water – water once in 4 days
Slums – common tap (water available for 20 minutes – twice a day – maximum limit per family is 3 buckets) and common toilets – long hours for water

Essential for life
Safe drinking water – prevent water related diseases
About 1600 child below 5 years die everyday because of water related diseases
Constitution of India recognises the right to water as being a part of the Right to Life under Article 21
2007: Andhra Pradesh High Court - hearing a case based on a letter written by a villager of Mahabubnagar district on the contamination of drinking water by a textile company that was discharging poisonous chemicals into a stream near his village (Collector ordered to supply 25 liters of water to each person)

Healthcare
Sanitation -68% households in India have access to drinking water & 36% have access to sanitation
Electricity
Public Transport – Buses to metros (Rs. 11,000 crore in Delhi), Mumbai Suburb – 65 lakh passengers commute daily
School and Colleges
Benefits can be shared by many people

Someone to carry responsibility to provide it to people – Government
Private companies operate for profit - Chapter “Story of Shirt” in Class 7
Water tanks by private companies - private companies provide public facilities but at a price that only some people can afford
Those who can’t pay will be deprived – Govt. takes care
Central Govt. spends on interest, defence, subsidy, economic services, social services, grants, police etc.
Budget is presented in Parliament – expense of government & how much it plans to spend
Sources of revenue – comes from taxes, charges of water price

Closer areas – more water
Far areas – lesser water
Municipal supply meets only half of the need
Shortfall burden- falls on poor
Middle Class – dig Borewell, buy bottled water, buy tankers
Universal access to ‘sufficient and safe’ water
Water coming to urban areas from nearby places – ground water levels have dropped in nearby places

Water is increasingly being filled by an expansion of private companies who are selling water for profit
Great inequalities in water use
Supply of water/person in urban area – 135 l/day (about seven buckets) as by Urban Water Commission in India – for slums it is less than 20 l/day (one bucket) & for luxury hotels it is 1,600 l/day (80 buckets).
Shortage of municipal water – sign of govt. failure
There are areas in the world where public water supply has achieved universal access - Porto Alegre, Brazil – lower infant deaths – average price is low & poor is charged at half the rate – working of department is transparent and they vote on priorities
Water handed to private companies witnessed huge rise in price – protests in Bolivia
Water department in Mumbai raises enough money through water charges to cover its expenses on supplying water
Hyderabad – increased coverage & performance in revenue collection
Chennai – initiates for rainwater harvesting – used service of private companies to operate – on contract

Sulabh, NGO for 3 decades - to address the problems of sanitation facing low-caste, low-income people in India.
Constructed more than 7,500 public toilet blocks and 1.2 million private toilets, giving access to sanitation to 10 million people.

-Mayank