Important Questions for CBSE Class 8 Social Science - Social and Political Life Chapter 9 - Public Facilities

Very Short Answer Questions:                                                                   1 Mark

1. Fill in the blanks-

(i) The ______ guarantees primary education to every child.

Ans: Constitution of India

(ii) The rail route of ______ suburban is the densest route in the world.

Ans: Mumbai’s

(iii) Cholera is a _____ borne diseases.

Ans: Water

(iv) Private companies mainly work for ______.

Ans: Profit

2. State true and false.

(i) Porto Alegre is a city in Brazil.

Ans: True

(ii) When the government provided private companies the use and allocation of water the water crisis arose.

Ans: True

(iii) Right to water, health and education are a part of the Right to Life.

Ans: True

(iv) Lucknow is the cleanest city in India.

Ans: False

3. Match the following-

Ans:

(i) Preventable disease-Polio

(ii) Waterborne disease-Cholera

(iii) Public facility-Basic rights and needs

(iv) Sulabh-Sanitation

4. Choose the correct option

The school facility given by the government is an important aspect of ________.

(a) Right to education

(b) Right to life and liberty

(c) Right to school

(d) None of the above

Ans: (a) Right to education

5. Define the Following

(i) Budget

Ans: A budget is an account of the expenses made, or to be made by the government on various public welfare programmes and how it plans to meet the expenses for the same.

(ii) Right to water

Ans: This means that every person has the right to equal access to clean water, regardless of caste, class, gender religion, etc.

Short Answer Questions:                                                                              2 Marks

6. What are the sources of water in rural areas?

Ans:  In rural areas the sources of water are wells handpumps, ponds and sometimes borewells.

7. Water is a fundamental right, how?

Ans: Water scarcity can pose a threat to human existence. The constitution, on the other hand, guarantees that everyone has the right to life, liberty, and equal opportunity. As a result, water can be considered a fundamental right.

8. Name the Article number under which Right to Water is included.

Ans: The Right to Water is included in the Right to life under Article 21 .

9. Name the NGO who has been working for three decades to address the problem of sanitation.

Ans: Sulab, the non-government organisation (NGO) has been working for three decades to address the problems of sanitation.

10. What do you mean by public facilities?

Ans: The services supplied by the government to its residents are known as public facilities. Electricity, water, and public transportation are examples of public services.

Short Answer Questions:                                                                                3 Marks

11. Why do you think the private companies are not involved in the business of water supply in the whole world?

Ans: Profit is the goal of private businesses. Water provision is not a very profitable business for such profit-driven corporations. Water is a vital requirement of life, hence it is critical to provide it at a minimal cost or for free. In this circumstance, private corporations may find it unprofitable to deliver water. This is why there are so few private water supply firms around the world.

12. How did the volunteers help in collecting the data for the census?

Ans: These volunteers must travel from house to house collecting data, which is then tabulated. This information is needed in subsequent computations to produce the final report. For the collection and enumeration of the data acquired for the Census, a large number of paid volunteers are participating on a contract basis.

13. How is irrigation causing to lower the water level?

Ans: The people get their water from the government. Some people harvest water from beneath the water using their own way, resulting in a water shortage. The residents use it  for cultivation and drinking water. The over-extraction of groundwater in these locations has also resulted in a significant drop in groundwater levels.

14. How can you say that water is part of a fundamental right?

Ans: Water is the most basic product that nature provides for everyone. There is no life without water. However, some upper middle-class and wealthy people gain more from government-provided or other sources of water. This causes a disparity in access to water between the middle and lower classes. Water scarcity may pose a hazard to their survival. The constitution, on the other hand, guarantees that everyone has the right to life, liberty, and equal opportunity. As a result, water can be considered a fundamental right.

15. What happens when there is a great shortage of public facilities like water?

Ans: When there is a great scarcity of public facilities such as water, the burden of inadequate water supplies falls mainly on the poor. Middle-class citizens are able to deal with a variety of private means such as drilling wells, buying water from tankers and using bottled water for drinking. The rich have more choices, they can afford bottled water and water purifiers. People who can afford it have clean drinking water while the poor are still falling through the cracks.

Long Answer Questions:                                                                                5 Marks

16. Why did people choose private institutions in place of government institutions?

Ans: The rise of private educational institutions such as schools, colleges, universities, and technical and vocational training institutes has resulted in a sharp drop in people's interest in government educational institutions. Private players are focused on producing money, which they utilize to develop the institute's facilities, luring talent and people from the middle and higher middle classes. As a result, such private institutions are out of reach for the poorest classes of society. This creates a separation between the rich and the poor, resulting in a shortage of qualified faculty in government institutions. This further limits the opportunities for disadvantaged talented students to attain their career ambitions.

17. Discuss the conditions of the public facilities like water.

Ans: All of the above mentioned amenities are not equally available to everyone. The water supply is not shared equitably by all residents in a given area. People in the middle class have only one water connection, whereas the wealthy have many connections.

People living in huts and slums must share a single tap for water. Others in the middle class can afford to buy water from tankers during times of water scarcity, but those in huts are left out due to their economic disadvantage.

18. How do you think the distribution of public facilities is not adequate for everyone?

Ans: Our country's distribution of public amenities is insufficient to suit the needs of its citizens. City dwellers have access to the majority of amenities such as water, healthcare, energy, educational institutions, public transportation, and so on. When we travel a few kilometers outside of the city, though, we notice a severe lack of such services. This explains why our country's allocation of public services is insufficient and unequal. People in neighboring villages in our area do not have access to clean drinking water or sanitary facilities, despite the fact that the city where I live has all of the amenities. 

19. What is the condition of the water supply in Chennai and why?

Ans: Because of water scarcity, private companies have an opportunity and provide water to cities by purchasing at locations around the city. In Chennai, water comes from nearby towns like Karungizhi Palur and Mamandur, from villages in the north of the city, with a fleet of over 13,000 tankers. On a monthly basis, water traders provide advance payments to farmers to exploit water source on their land. In this way, the water that is removed does not only create a deficit for agricultural purposes, but also increases the scarcity of drinking water for villagers. As a result, ground water levels have fallen drastically in all these cities and villages.

20. Why are most of the private hospitals and private schools located in major cities and not in towns or rural areas?

Ans: The reasons given are:

• In big cities, life goes fast. People could not wait hours together in long lineups like they do in government hospitals.

• They have the wherewithal to do this because they have money to spend.

• Urban residents are more ambitious.

• The expectation is that private hospitals and private schools will have better facilities.

• Private schools have more facilities.