AMITY INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL, NOIDA

CLASS VIII (2022-2023)

CIVICS
TOPIC: PUBLIC FACILITIES
HANDOUT
1. Why do you think there are so few cases of private water supply in the world?
Answer:
a. 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 charge or at
affordable rates.
b. But, as private companies worked 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.
C. 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%.
a. 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.
b. The burden of water supply shortage falls mostly on the poor, as they cannot afford
the expense of tankers or packaged water.
c. 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:
a. 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.
b. 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.
c. 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 purposes 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 to 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
a. 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.
b. For example, the Delhiites 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 must face grave crises for these facilities.
c. 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.
d. Compared to wealthy localities; the poorer localities are under-serviced. Handing over
these facilities to private companies is not an answer.
e. 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.

Q6. Take some of the public facilities in your area, such as water, electricity, road and
public transport etc. Are these 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 in 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.

EXTRA Questions and Answers:

Q7. ‘Water as the part of the Fundamental right to life.’ – Prove the given statement.
Answer
Indeed, ‘Water as the part of the Fundamental right to life’ as the Constitution of India
recognises the right to water as being a part of the Right to Life under Article 21. Several
reasons are responsible for that. Those are:
• Water is essential for life and for good health.
• Not only is it necessary for us to be able to meet our daily needs but safe drinking
water can prevent many water-related diseases.
• India has one of the largest number of cases of diseases such as diarrhoea,
dysentery, cholera. Over 1,600 Indians, most of them children below the age of five,
reportedly die every day because of water-related diseases.
 • These deaths can be prevented if people have access to safe drinking water.
Q8. Explain the concept of the ‘Right to Water’. / Write a short note on Article 21.
Answer
The Constitution of India recognises the right to water as being a part of the Right to Life
under Article 21.
Right to water means that it is the right of every person, whether rich or poor, to have
enough water to fulfil his/her daily needs at a price that he/she can afford. In other words,
there should be universal access to water. According to the United Nations 2002, the right
to water entitles everyone to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible, and
affordable water for personal and domestic use.
There have been several court cases in which the High Court and the Supreme Court have
held that the right to safe drinking is a Fundamental Right. For example, the verdict of
Andhra Pradesh High Court in 2007.

Q9. Write a short note on the ‘Public Facilities’.

Answer
Public Facilities refers to the various services that are given by the government for the well-
being of the citizens of the country, like water, healthcare, sanitation, electricity,
transport, schools, and colleges. These ensure that every citizen of the country has equal
access to the basic requirements for survival.
The important characteristic of a public facility is that once it is provided, its benefits can be
shared by many people. For instance, a school in the village will enable many children to get
educated. Similarly, the supply of electricity to an area can be useful for many people, like
farmers can run pump sets to irrigate their fields.

Q10. ‘Universal access to sufficient and safe water becomes a far cry.’ – Explain the given
statement.
Answer
Public facilities should be made available to all, in reality we see that there is a great
shortage of such facilities. For example, the provision of water is a public facility of great
importance. In case of availing safe drinking water, the burden of shortfalls in water supply
falls mostly on the poor. This is because poor people cannot afford to pay for such private
facilities like digging borewells, buying water from tankers, using bottled water for drinking,
and installing water purifiers at homes, etc. So, the money or the affordability is the main
concern for the poorer for maintaining a decent life. It seems that it is only people with
money who have the right to water. Hence, it is rightly said that the universal access to
sufficient and safe water becomes a far cry.

Q 11. What is the picture of middle class and poor people in respect of availing safe
drinking water?
Answer
In the case of shortage of water, there is a distinct difference between two major sections
of society, i.e., the middle class and poor people.
The middle-class People Poor People
1. Are able to cope through a variety 1. Are unable to cope with this variety of
of private means private means
2. They can afford to pay 2. They cannot afford to pay
3. They avail a variety of private 3. The poor are again left out to avail such
means such as digging borewells, safe drinking water facility.
buying water from tankers, using
 bottled water for drinking and
installing water purifiers, etc.
4. They rarely faced the burden of 4. they mostly faced the burden of
shortfalls in water supply. shortfalls in water supply.

Q12. Where does the government get money for public facilities?
Answer
Every year you must have heard of the government budget being presented in Parliament.
This is an account of the expenses the government has incurred on its programmes in the
past year and how much it plans to spend in the coming year. In the budget, the
government also announces the various ways in which it plans to meet these expenses. The
main source of revenue for the government is the taxes collected from the people, and the
government is empowered to collect these taxes and use them for such programmes. For
instance, to supply water, the government has to incur costs in pumping water, carrying it
over long distances, laying down pipes for distribution, treating the water for impurities,
and finally, collecting and treating wastewater. It meets these expenses partly from the
various taxes that it collects and partly by charging a price for water. This price is set so that
most people can afford a certain minimum amount of water for daily use.

Q13. Write the cases of success in government water supply.

Answer
There are several cases of success in government water supply. Some of them are:
(a) The water supply department in Mumbai
(b) The water supply department in Hyderabad.
(c)In Chennai, the department has taken up rainwater harvesting to increase the level of
groundwater and allowing private companies to transport and distribute water with
government rate for water tankers.

Q14. Why should the government not withdraw the task of supplying water?
Answer
• Throughout the world, water supply is a function of the government. There are very few
instances of private water supply.
• There are areas in the world where public water supply has achieved universal access.
• Wherever the private companies were allowed to supply water riots broke out due to
unaffordable prices and forcing the government to take back this service.