NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Economics Chapter 14 Infrastructure

Detailed, Step-by-Step NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Economics Chapter 14 Infrastructure Questions and Answers were solved by Expert Teachers as per NCERT (CBSE) Book guidelines covering each topic in chapter to ensure complete preparation.

Infrastructure NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Economics Chapter 14

Infrastructure Questions and Answers Class 12 Economics Chapter 14

Question 1.
Explain the term ‘Infrastructure’.
Answer:
Infrastructure refers to basic organisational facilities and systems required for the functioning of an economy. It is a network of public services, physical and social facilities. Infrastructure provides supporting services in the areas of agricultural and industrial production, domestic and foreign trade and commerce.

Question 2.
Explain the two categories into which infrastructure is divided. How are both interdependent?
Answer:
Infrastructure is divided into:

  • Economic infrastructure includes energy, transportation and communication
  • Social infrastructure – includes education, health and housing.
  • Both economic and social infrastructures contribute to the prosperity of the economy.

Economic infrastructure fosters economic growth enhances the quality of living. which leads to overall welfare of the country’s people. The economic growth attained with the help of economic infrastructure is incomplete without human development, which can be attained through social infrastructure. Thus, economic and social infrastructures are interdependent on each other.

NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Economics Chapter 14 Infrastructure

Question 3.
How do infrastructural facilities boost production?
Answer:
Infrastructural facilities boost production in all the sectors of the economy, Infrastructure is the support system that facilitates efficient working of a modern industrial economy, agriculture, transportation, communication as well as social sector. The development of infrastructural facilities lowers down the cost of production and increases the profits of the producers, which ultimately boost the production.

Question 4.
Infrastructure contributes to the economic development of a country. Do you agree? Explain.
Answer:
Infrastructure contributes to the economic development of a country by increasing the efficiency of factors of production and improving the quality of people’s life. Infrastructure is a network of public services, physical and social facilities. It provides supporting services in the areas of agricultural and industrial production, domestic and foreign trade and commerce. Rapid economic development is attained with the development of different sectors through economic and social infrastructure. Thus, infrastructure plays a vital role in the economic development of a country.

Question 5.
What is the state of rural infrastructure in India?
Answer:
According to 2001 census, important statistics related to rural infrastructure in India are as below:

  • Only 56 percent of the households had electricity connection for lighting.
  • 43 percent still used kerosene.
  • 90 percent of the rural households used bio-fuels for cooking.
  • Only 24 percent of the rural households have tap water availability.
  • About 76 percent of the population used to drink water from open sources.
  • Only 6 percent of the rural population had access to improved sanitation.

Despite of tremendous technical progress in the world, Indian rural women still use bio-fuels such as crop residues, dung and fuel wood to meet their energy requirements.

NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Economics Chapter 14 Infrastructure

Question 6.
What is the significance of ‘energy’? Differentiate between commercial and non-commercial sources of energy.
Answer:
The energy is crucial for the development process of a nation. It is essential for:

  • Industries
  • Agriculture and its related areas such as production and transportation
  • Cooking lighting and beating focuses

The following are the points of difference between commercial sources non-commercial sources of energy:

S.No. Commercial Sources Non-commercial Sources
1. Commercial sources are exchanged for money. Non-commercial sources of energy are in nature.
2. They are generally exhaustible. They are generally renewable.
3. Examples: Coal, petroleum and electricity Examples: Agricultural waste, firewood and dried dung

Question 9.
What are the three basic sources of generating power?
Answer:
The following are the three basic sources of generating power:

  • Thermal Power
  • Hydro Power
  • Nuclear Power

Question 8.
What do you mean by transmission and distribution losses? How can they be reduced?
Answer:
Transmission and distribution losses mean loss of a portion of power while transmitting and distributing it to the consumers. Transmission loss can be reduced by:

  • Use of better equipment
  • Regular maintenance of transmission lines
  • Prevention of power theft

Question 9.
What are the various non-commercial sources of energy?
Answer:
Non-commercial sources of energy are those sources which are found in nature or in forest. The various sources of non-commercial energy are:

  • Firewood
  • Agricultural waste
  • Dried dung

Question 10.
Justify that energy crisis can be overcome with the use of renewable source of energy.
Answer:
The use of renewable energy sources can ensure additional supply of power. India’s energy policy encourages hydel and wind energy as India has great potential in the use of renewable source of energy. Moreover, these sources do not rely on fossil fuel and hence, avoid carbon emissions. Greater reliance on renewable energy resources offers enormous economic, social and environmental benefits. Thus, it is possible to overcome energy crisis with the use of renewable source of energy.

NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Economics Chapter 14 Infrastructure

Question 11.
How has the consumption pattern of energy changed over the years?
Answer:
The consumption pattern of energy has changed over the years from non-commercial energy to commercial energy due to the change in the living standards.

  • The share of commercial energy consumption in the total energy consumed in India is about 74 percent while that of non-commercial energy consumption is 26 percent W .
  • In the India’s energy sector, the import dependence on crude and petroleum products is likely to grow rapidly.
  • The share of transport sector has declined from 44 per cent in 1953-54 to mere 2 percent in
  • The shares of the household, agriculture and industrial sector have been increasing. At present, the share of oil and gas is the highest among all commercial energy consumption.

Question 12.
How are the rates of consumption of energy and economic growth connected?
Answer:
Electricity is one of the most critical components of infrastructure as it determines the level of economic development in a country. According to a study, the growth rate of demand for power is generally higher than the GDP growth rate. In order to have an 8 percent annual growth of GDP, the power supply needs to grow around 12 percent per annum.

Question 13.
What problems are being faced by the power sector in India?
Answer:
The power sector in India faces the following problems:

  • India’s installed capacity to generate electricity is insufficient to meet an annual growth of 7 percent.
  • State Electricity Boards, which distribute the electricity, incur transmission and distribution losses accounting to ₹ 500 billion.
  • Private sector power generators play limited role in production.
  • General public suffers due to high power tariffs and prolonged power cuts.
  • Thermal power plants are facing shortage of raw material and coal supplies.

Question 14.
Discuss the reforms which have been initiated recently to meet the energy crisis in India.
Answer:
Following reforms have been initiated to meet energy crisis in India:

  • Promoting Non-conventional Sources of Energy: The government is channelising resources to develop non-conventional sources of energy such as wind power, solar and tidal energy.
  • Privatisation of Power Distribution: In some cities, power distribution has been handed over to private companies in order to minimise transmission and distribution losses.
  • Increasing Electricity Generation: New nuclear plants have been set up to expand the generation of electricity.
  • ‘Save Energy’ Campaign: The government has initiated a campaign to promote the use of compact fluorescent lamps (CFL). According to Bureau of Energy Efficiency, CFLs consume 80 percent less power compared to ordinary bulbs. Government has also started supplying CFLs to the household at minimal cost.

Question 15.
What are the main characteristics of health of the people of our country?
Answer:
The main characteristics of health of the people of the country are stated below:

  • Health means state of complete physical, mental and social soundness.
  • Infant mortality rate in India is still high at 32 per thousand live births.
  • Mortality rate among children below 5 years is at 39.4 per thousand live births.
  • Around 85.7 percent of births are attended by skilled personnel.
  • The government spends only 3.9 percent of GDP on health.
  • Around 5 lakh children die of water-borne diseases every year.
  • About 2.2 million children die every year due to malnutrition and inadequate supply of vaccines, (viii) India, with about 17 percent of the world’s population, bears 20 percent of the global burden of diseases (GBD). Note: Data corresponds to year 2012.

NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Economics Chapter 14 Infrastructure

Question 16.
What is a ‘Global Burden of Disease’?
Answer:
Global Burden of Disease (GBD) is a measure of collective disease burden produced by all diseases around the world. It determines mortality and disability from major diseases. Communicable diseases, such as diarrhoea, malaria and tuberculosis account for more than half of GBD in India.

Question 17.
Discuss the main drawbacks of our health care system.
Answer:
The main drawbacks of our health care system are:
(i) Inefficient Management: The health care centres in rural areas lack trained and skilled personnel. According to a study, only 30 per cent of the PHCs have sufficient stock of medicines.

(ii) Lack of Modern Techniques and Equipment: The government health centres lack modern facilities such as blood testing, X-rays, CT-scan, sonography, etc. People depend on the private hospitals to avail these services, which charge unreasonable fees.

(iii) Widely Spread Communicable Diseases: Communicable diseases, such as diarrhoea, malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS are widely spread in India. These deadly diseases pose serious threat to human capital reserve and hence, hampering economic growth.

(iv) Unequal Distribution of Health Care Services: The health care services are unequally distributed across rural and urban areas. People in the rural areas have insufficient medical infrastructure compared to urban areas.

Question 18.
How has the women’s health become a matter of great concern?
Answer:
The women’s health has become a matter of great concern due to the following reasons:

  • The child sex ratio in the country has declined from 927 in 2001 to 914 in 2011, reflecting increasing incidence of foeticide.
  • Around 3,00,000 girls, aged below 15, are not only married but have already given birth to at least one child.
  • More than 50 percent of married women, between the age group of 15 to 49 are anaemic due to iron deficiency. This contributes to 19 percent of maternal deaths.
  • Abortions are also major cause for maternal morbidity in India,

NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Economics Chapter 14 Infrastructure

Question 19.
Describe the meaning of public health. Discuss the major public health measures undertaken by the state in recent years to control diseases.
Answer:
Public health includes all the public or private measures to prevent disease, promote health and prolong life among the people as a whole. It can be assessed considering the indicators such as infant mortality and maternal mortality rates, life expectancy and nutrition levels, along with incidence of communicable and non-communicable diseases. The major public health measures undertaken by the state in recent years to control diseases are the following:

  • Over the years, India’s health infrastructure and manpower has built up significantly at different levels over the years.
  • In rural India, a large number of Primary Health Centres (PHCs) have been set up by the government.
  • Various voluntary agencies and the private sector run a large number of hospitals.
  • The number of hospitals and dispensaries has increased from 9,300 in 1951 to 5 1,300 in 2016-17.
  • During 1951 -2017, nursing personnel have also increased from 0.18 in 195 I to 28.8 lakh in 2017.
  • Expansion of health infrastructure has resulted in the eradication of diseases such as smallpox and guinea worms.
  • The government organise regular camps for immunisation of children against diphtheria, tetanus, polio, etc. India has been officially declared polio-free by the WHO.
  • National AIDS Control organisation takes care of, prevents, and provides treatment to HIV positive and AIDS infected patients.

Question 20.
Differentiate the six systems of Indian medicine.
Answer:
Indian system of medicine includes six systems – Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy – together called AYUSH.
1. Ayurveda: Ayurveda is called the science of life. It is one of the most ancient systems of preventive, promotive and curative healthcare having equal scientific relevance in the modern world. According to Ayurveda, health is the pre-requisite for achieving the goals of life. Ayurveda’s curative treatment consists of medicines (Aushadhi), diet (Ahara) and lifestyle (Vihara).

Medicinal plants are largely used as raw materials for the manufacture of drugs in Ayurveda. These medicines are generally safe and have little or no known side-effects, if consumed judiciously following the necessary do’s and don’ts.

2. Yoga and Naturopathy: Yoga has the potential for improvement of social and personal behavior, and physical health. It encourages better circulation of oxygenated blood in the body, and restrains the five sense organs, thereby inducing peace and calmness in mind.
Naturopathy is a drugless treatment of diseases based on the ancient practice of application of simple laws of nature.

Naturopathy focuses on eating and living habits and adoption of purification measures, thereby healing illness without medicines. Naturopathy is believed to be effective in healing chronic, allergic autoimmune and stress related disorders by stimulating the body’s inherent power with the help of five elements of nature.

NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Economics Chapter 14 Infrastructure

3. Unani: Unani system of medicine is a comprehensive medical system that gives great importance to temperament of a patient in diagnosis and treatment of diseases. It follows the methods of understanding and maintaining health in a positive and individualised manner. Unani system of medicine uses drugs obtained only from herbal, animal and mineral sources.

4. Siddha: Siddha is one of the ancient systems of medicine in India originated mainly from Dravidian culture. The Siddha system strongly emphasises on the environment, physical condition, age, sex, race, habits, mental state, diet and physiological constitution of the diseases of the patient. In this system, metals and minerals such as mercury, silver, arsenic, lead and sulphur are uniquely converted into drugs to treat many infective diseases. These drugs do not have any side effects.

5. Homeopathy: Homeopathy is a system of medicine specialised in treatment of curing diseases by administration of potency drugs, which have been experimentally proved to possess the power of producing similar artificial systems on human beings. The homeopathic remedies use plant, animal, synthetic materials, and mineral for preparing medicines that are further diluted in alcohol or distilled water before giving to the patient.

Question 21.
How can we increase the effectiveness of health care programmes?
Answer:
The effectiveness of health care programmes can be increased by adopting the following measures:

  • Expanding regulated private sector health services
  • Encouraging NGOs and community participation in providing health care facilities and spreading health awareness .
  • Reducing the gap of urban-rural and rich-poor in utilising health care facilities
  • Integrating accessibility and affordability in the basic health infrastructure
  • Decentralising public health services
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