Unit Five - ncert.nic.in

1 Social and Political Life104 Unit Five105 Teacher s NoteThis unit discusses the role of the government in providing public facilities as well as in implementinglaws that apply to market, factory and the working conditions of people. The aim is to allowstudents to understand the ways in which this role of the government is linked to concerns addressedin our Fundamental Rights. It is this link to rights that provides a connection to similar issuesraised in earlier chapters. Also the discussion in the Class VI and VII textbooks on livelihoods andmarkets respectively can also be used to provide a context for discussions in Chapter 9 uses water as the primary example to discuss public facilities.

2 It is important that thestudent understand quite clearly what is meant by the idea of public facilities and why thegovernment needs to play a crucial role in their provision and, therefore, take overall idea of equity, or the equal availability, affordability and quality of water for all, is one of thekey issues related to public facilities that the chapter highlights. In the classroom discussion, it iscrucial to separate the discussion on the importance of the government s role in providing publicfacilities from their current unequal provision. This means that the fact that persons currently getdifferent amounts of water should not be viewed as a reason for the government not being able toprovide public 10 discusses the central role of the government in regulating economic activities.

3 This islargely done through laws and the chapter focuses on the importance of implementing existinglaws as well as making new laws to protect the rights of workers, consumers and producers in themarket. The Bhopal gas tragedy is discussed as an example of the lax enforcement of the laws. Itis quite likely that students might have not heard of this tragedy and it would be helpful to havethem research this and perhaps create a wallpaper or skit on this for the entire school. The websitesindicated at the end of the book could be used for additional reference material. The Bhopal gastragedy also marked the moment in which environmental issues became intrinsically linked tolaws on the economy and the chapter briefly discusses this as well.

4 The idea of accountability ofthe manufacturer as well as the government to the workers and the citizens at large is one of thekey ideas underlying this Presenceof the GovernmentSocial and Political Life106 Chapter 9 ANNA NAGARAmu and Kumar aretravelling throughChennai in a bus. Asthey go round the city,they observe the waterfacilities available indifferent parts Facilities107 Public FacilitiesMYLAPOREMADIPAKKAMSivaSubraman ianSocial and Political Life108 Water and the People of ChennaiSenior government officials like Mr Ramagopal livein Anna Nagar, Chennai. This area looks lush andgreen with lawns maintained by a generous sprayingof water.

5 Bungalows here have tap water for majorpart of the day. On days when the water supply isinadequate, Mr Ramagopal speaks to a senior officialwhom he knows in the municipal water board and awater tanker is easily arranged for his most areas of the city, Subramanian s apartments inMylapore suffers from water shortage. This area getsmunicipal water once in two days. A private borewell meetssome of the residents water needs. Borewell water is,however, brackish so the residents use it in their toiletsand for washing. For other uses, water is purchased fromtankers. Subramanian spends upto Rs 500-600 per monthon buying water from the tankers.

6 For drinking water,residents have installed water purification systems in lives on rent on the first floor of a house in Madipakkamand gets water once in four days. Shortage of water is onemajor reason why Siva can t bring his family to drinking, Siva buys bottled works as a domestic help in Saidapet and lives inthe nearby slum. She pays a rent of Rs 650 for the hutment,which has neither a bathroom nor a tap connection. For 30such hutments there is a common tap at one corner, in whichwater comes from a borewell for 20 minutes twice daily. Afamily gets to fill a maximum of three buckets within thistime. The same water is used for washing and drinking.

7 Insummer, the flow becomes a trickle, so that one family getswater only at the cost of another. People have to wait longhours for water You have seen the foursituations illustrated on these, whatimpression do you get of thewater situation in Chennai?2. Pick out the various sourcesof water for household usefrom the description What, in your view, is similar,and what is different inSubramanian s and Padma Write a paragraphdescribing the water supplysituation in your Why does water flow in atrickle in summer in most placesin India? Find : Is there a generalshortage of water for everyonein Chennai? Can you think oftwo reasons why differentpeople get varying amounts ofwater?

8 109 .. right to water entitleseveryone to sufficient,safe, acceptable,physically accessible andaffordable water forpersonal and domesticuse United Nations (2002)Water as Part of the Fundamental Rightto LifeWater is essential for life and for good health. Not onlyis it necessary for us to be able to meet our daily needsbut safe drinking water can prevent many water-relateddiseases. India has one of the largest number of cases ofdiseases such as diarrhoea, dysentery, cholera. Over 1,600 Indians, most of them children below the age of five,reportedly die everyday because of water-related deaths can be prevented if people have access tosafe drinking Constitution of India recognises the right to water asbeing a part of the Right to Life under Article 21.

9 Thismeans that it is the right of every person, whether rich orpoor, to have sufficient amounts of water to fulfil his/herdaily needs at a price that he/she can afford. In other words,there should be universal access to have been several court cases in which both the HighCourts and the Supreme Court have held that the right tosafe drinking water is a Fundamental Right. More recently,in 2007, the Andhra Pradesh High Court restated thiswhile hearing a case based on a letter written by a villagerof Mahbubnagar district on the contamination of drinkingwater. the villager s complaint was that a textile companywas discharging poisonous chemicals into a stream nearhis village, contaminating ground water, which was thesource for irrigation and drinking water.

10 The judgesdirected the Mahbubnagar district collector to supply 25litres of water to each person in the FacilitiesLike water, there are other essential facilities that need tobe provided for everyone. Last year you read about twoother such facilities: healthcare and sanitation. Similarly,there are things like electricity, public transport, schoolsand colleges that are also necessary. These are known aspublic 9: Public FacilitiesSocial and Political Life110 The Indian Constitution guarantees the Right toEducation for all children between the ages of6-14 years. Equity in the schooling facilitiesavailable to all children is an important aspectof this Right.