Question:
Do you think water in Chennai is available and affordable by all? Discuss.
Answer:
Water is not equally available to all citizens in Chennai. Certain areas like Anna Nagarget 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 hortfalls 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.
Public Facilities
Q 1.
Mention some public facilities that only the government can provide and maintain.
Q 2.
How can laws ensure that markets work in a manner that is fair? Give two examples to support your answer.
Q 3.
What are the advantages to foreign companies in setting up production in India?
Q 4.
What is Universal Access to water?
Q 5.
How can the government ensure social justice?
Q 6.
How was environment treated earlier? What has been the change in perception?
Q 7.
Which Article in the Indian Constitution recognises the "right to water"?
Q 8.
Mention some public facilities that are provided by the government.
Q 9.
Do you think water in Chennai is available and affordable by all? Discuss.
Q 10.
What are the characteristics of Public facilities?
Q 11.
What were the reasons for the Bhopal tragedy?
Q 12.
What are the reasons for the sharp differences in safety standards between the 2 Union carbide factories in the USA and India?
Q 13.
What is sanitation?
Q 14.
Write a paragraph on the various roles of the government that you have read about in this unit.
Q 15.
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?
Q 16.
What do we mean when we speak of law enforcement? Who is responsible for enforcement? Why is enforcement so important?
Q 17.
What is a Government Budget?
Q 18.
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.
Q 19.
How do government certifications like the ISI certification help the consumer?
Q 20.
Do you think the victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy got justice? Discuss.
Q 21.
Do you think the distribution of public facilities in our country is adequate and fair? Give an example of your own to explain.
Q 22.
In what way was the Government responsible for the Bhopal tragedy?
Q 23.
Why do you think there are so few cases of private water supply in the world?
Q 24.
Why are most of the private hospitals and private schools located in major cities and not in towns or rural areas?
Q 25.
What do you think the famous cartoonist R.K. Laxman is trying to convey in this cartoon? How does it relate to the 2006 law that you read about on page 125?
Q 26.
Mention a few public facilities that are provided by private companies.
Q 27.
Write a short note on Sulabh International.
Q 28.
How does the government raise fund to provide public facilities?
Q 29.
Write a brief note on the Bhopal gas tragedy.
