NCERT Solutions for Class 11 Economics (Indian Economic Development) Infrastructure [Old Book]

NCERT
SOLUTIONS
CLASS - 11th

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Book : Indian Economic Development Ncert Solutions | Chapter - 8 Economics

Class : 11th

Subject : Economics

Chapter : 8

Chapter Name : Infrastructure

Q1 Explain the term infrastructure.

Answer. Infrastructure provides supporting services in the main areas of industrial and
agricultural production, domestic and foreign trade and commerce. These services include
roads, railways, ports, airports, dams, power stations, oil and gas pipelines, telecommunication
facilities, the country’s educational system, health system, sanitary system, clean drinking water
facilities, and the monetary system. Some of these facilities have a direct impact on production
of goods and services while others give indirect support by building the social sector of the
economy.

Q2 Explain the two categories into which infrastructure is divided. How are both
interdependent?

Answer. Infrastructure provides supporting services in the main areas of industrial and
agricultural production, domestic and foreign trade and commerce. It is divided into two
categories- economic and social.

➔ Infrastructure associated with energy, transportation, and communication are included in
the economic category.
➔ Infrastructure related to education, health and housing are included in social category.

Economic infrastructure helps in improving the quality of economic resources, this would not be
possible until the people have the knowledge to use them efficiently. Thus, economic
infrastructure and social infrastructure are complementary to each other.

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Q3 How do infrastructure facilities boost production?

Answer. Infrastructure is the support system on which depends the efficient working a modern
industrial economy. Modern agriculture also largely depends on it for speedy and large scale
transport of seeds, pesticides, fertilisers, and produced using modern roadways, railways, and
shipping facilities. In recent times, agriculture also depends on insurance and banking facilities
because of its need to operate on a very large scale.

Q4 Infrastructure contributes to economic development of a country. Do you agree? Explain.

Answer. Infrastructure contributes to economic development of a country both by increasing the
productivity of the factors of production and improving the quality of life of its people. Inadequate
infrastructure can have multiple adverse effects on health. Improvements in water supply and
sanitation have a large impact by reducing morbidity from major water borne diseases and
reducing the severity of disease when it occurs. In addition to the obvious linkage between
water and sanitation and health, the quality of transport and communication infrastructure can
affect access to healthcare.

Q5 What is the state of rural infrastructure in India?

Answer. A majority of our people live in rural areas. Despite so much technical progress in the
world, rural women are still using biofuels such as crop residues, dung and fuel wood to meet its
energy requirements. They walk long distances to fetch fuel, water and other basic needs.
According to the census of 2001, the state of rural infrastructure in India is:

➔ Only 56 percent of the households have electricity connection, 43 percent still use
kerosene
➔ About 90 percent of rural households use bio-fuels for cooking

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➔ Tap water availability is limited to only 24 percent rural households. About 76 percent of
the population drinks water from open sources such as wells, tanks, ponds, lakes, rivers,
canals, etc.
➔ Access to improved sanitation in rural areas was only 20 percent.

Q6 What is the significance of ‘energy’? Differentiate between commercial and non-commercial
sources of energy.

Answer. Energy is a critical aspect of the development process of a nation. It is necessary for
industries, it is used on a large scale in agriculture and related areas like production and
transportation of fertilisers, pesticides, and farm equipment. It is required in houses for cooking,
household lighting and heating.

➔ Commercial sources of energy are generally exhaustible, while non-commercial sources
are generally renewable.
➔ Commercial sources are coal, petroleum and electricity as they are bought and sold.
Non-commercial sources of energy are firewood, agricultural waste and dried dung,
these are non-commercial as they are found in nature/forests.

Q7 What are the three basic sources of generating power?

Answer. Three basic sources of generating power are :

➔ Thermal power sources
➔ Hydel power
➔ Nuclear power

Thermal power uses heat energy as its base, hydel power uses the kinetic force of falling water,
nuclear power uses sustained nuclear fission for generating electricity.

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Q8 What do you mean by transmission and distribution losses? How can they be reduced?

Answer. Electricity generated by various power stations is not consumed entirely by consumers,
while transmitting, a portion is lost in transmission. What we receive is the net availability. State
Electricity Boards (SEBs) which distribute electricity incurs huge losses. This is due to
transmission and distribution losses, wrong pricing of electricity and other inefficiencies.
Distribution of electricity to farmers is the main reason for the losses, electricity is also stolen in
different areas.

More public investment, better research and development efforts, exploration, technological
innovation and use of renewable energy sources can ensure additional supply of electricity.

Q9 What are the various non-commercial sources of energy?

Answer. Non commercial energy is available to the users free of cost and is mostly used for
domestic and household consumption. Non-commercial sources consist of firewood, cow dung
and agricultural waste. These are non-commercial as they are found in nature/forests and are
generally renewable sources.

Q10 Justify that energy crisis can be overcome with the use of renewable sources of energy.

Answer. When resources are extracted at a pace greater than the rate of regeneration, the
carrying capacity of the environment reduces. Environmental crisis is due to the fall in the
carrying or absorptive capacity of the environment. The current rate of consumption of
resources is faster than the rate of its regeneration. Renewable sources of energy is something,
the extraction of which can be easily replenished by nature, for example solar energy, wind
energy, etc. These can be easily utilized without harming the finite non-renewable resources.
Thus, energy crisis can be overcome by the increased use of cost-effective technology of
renewable sources of energy.

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Q11 How has the consumption pattern of energy changed over the years?

Answer. The percentage use of different sources of energy is referred to as pattern of
consumption of energy.

➔ The transport sector was the largest consumer of commercial energy in the 1953-54.
There has been continuous fall in the share of transport.
➔ The consumption of energy in agriculture sector was minimum in 1953-54, which
gradually increased to a considerable amount in 2014-15.
➔ The consumption in the industries sector had been fluctuating over the years.
➔ Consumption has also increased in sectors like household and other sectors.

Q12 How are the rates of consumption of energy and economic growth connected?

Answer. Continued economic development and population growth are driving the demand for
energy faster than what India is producing currently. Usage of renewable resources leads to
sustainable economic development. More public investment, better research and development
efforts, exploration, technological innovation and use of renewable energy sources can ensure
additional of electricity.

Q13 What problems are being faced by the power sector in India?

Answer. Some of the challenges faced by India’s power sector are :

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➔ India’s installed capacity to generate electricity is not sufficient to feed an annual
economic growth of 7-8 percent. The installed capacity is under-utilised because plants
are not running properly. In order to meet the growing demand for electricity, India’s
commercial energy supply needs to grow at about 7 percent.
➔ State Electricity Boards (SEBs), which distribute electricity incur huge losses. This is due
to transmission and distribution losses, wrong pricing of electricity and other
inefficiencies. Distribution of electricity to farmers is the main reason for losses, it is also
stolen in different areas which adds to the woes of SEBs.
➔ Private sector power generators are yet to play their role in a major way, same is for
foreign investors.
➔ There is general public unrest due to high power tariffs and prolonged power cuts in
different parts of the country.

Thermal power plants, which are the mainstay of India’s power sector are facing shortage of raw
material and coal supplies.

Q14 Discuss the reforms which have been initiated recently to meet the energy crisis in India.

Answer.

➔ The government had gone for privatization instead of investing in power sector by
adding to the installed capacity.
➔ The reform policies by providing various concessions and incentives, aim at attracting
the private sector in general and foreign investors in particular.
➔ Environment-friendly makeover, large scale use of solar energy, which was considered a
far-fetched concept, has brought in real benefits and results in cost and energy savings.
➔ According to Energy Efficiency Services ltd, the UJALA scheme aims to replace
incandescent bulbs with LEDs, saving huge amount in power generation.

Q15 What are the main characteristics of health of the people of our country?

Answer. Health is not only the absence of disease but also the ability to realise one’s potential, it
is a yardstick for one’s well being. Health is a holistic process related to overall growth and
development of the nation. Public health is assessed by taking into account indicators like infant

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mortality and maternal mortality rates, life expectancy and nutrition levels, along with the
incidence of communicable and non-communicable diseases.

Q16 What is a ‘global burden of disease’?

Answer. Global burden of disease (GBD) is an indicator used by experts to gauge the number of
people dying prematurely due to a particular disease, as well as, the number of years spent by
them in a state of ‘disability’ owing to the disease. In India more than half of GBD is accounted
for by communicable diseases such as diarrhea, malaria and tuberculosis.

Q17 Discuss the main drawbacks of our health care system.

Answer.

➔ Private sector has grown independently without any major regulation, some private
practitioners are not even registered doctors.
➔ Many non-resident Indians and industrial and pharmaceutical companies have set up
super specialty hospitals to attract the rich and medical tourists, which cannot be
accessed by the poor.
➔ There are many AYUSH hospitals, dispensaries and registered practitioners in India, but
little has been done to set up a framework to standardize education or to promote
research.
➔ India has about 17 percent of the world’s population but it bears 20 percent of the global
burden of diseases. In India more than half of the GBD is accounted for by
communicable diseases like diarrhea, malaria and tuberculosis.
➔ Though 70 percent of India’s population lives in rural areas, only one-fifth of its hospitals
are located in rural areas. People living in rural areas do not have sufficient medical
infrastructure.
➔ Government-run hospitals do not provide sufficient facilities so the poor are driven to
private hospitals, which make them indebted forever as they cannot afford the treatment
in private hospitals.

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Q18 How has women’s health has become a matter of great concern?

Answer. Following are the reasons why women’s health is a matter of great concern :

➔ Women constitute about half of the total population in India. They suffer many
disadvantages as compared to men in the areas of education, participation in economic
activities and healthcare.
➔ The deterioration in the child sex ratio in the country from 927 in 2001 to 914 in 2011
points to the growing incidence of female foeticide.
➔ Close to 3,00,000 girls aged below 15 years are not only married but have already borne
children at least once.
➔ More than 50 percent of married women in the age group of 15-49 years have anemia
and nutritional anemia caused by iron deficiency, which has contributed to 19 percent of
maternal deaths. Abortions are also a major cause of maternal morbidity and mortality in
India.

Q19 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 is the act of protecting people’s health with the help of education,
research and development and promotion of healthy lifestyles. Development of health
infrastructure ensures a country of healthy manpower for the production of goods and services.
People are entitled to care facilities, it is the responsibility of the government to ensure the right
to healthy living.

Public health measures undertaken by the government are :

➔ The government has the constitutional obligation to guide and regulate all health-related
issues such as medical education, adulteration of food, drugs and poisons, medical
profession, vital statistics, mental deficiency and lunacy.
➔ The central government evolves broad policies and plans through the Central Council of
Health and Family Welfare. It collects information and renders financial and technical
assistance to state governments, for the implementation of important health
programmes.

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➔ At the village level, a variety of hospitals, technically known as Primary Health Centres
(PHCs), have been set up by the government.
➔ There has been significant expansion in physical provision of health services. During
1951-2017, the number of government hospitals and dispensaries together increased
from 9300 to 51,300. Nursing personnel increased from 0.18 to 28.8 lakh and allopathic
doctors from 0.62 to 10.4 lakh.
➔ The expansion of health infrastructure has resulted in the eradication of smallpox,
guinea worms, and the near eradication of polio and leprosy.

Q20 Differentiate the six systems of Indian medicine.

Answer. The six systems of Indian medicine are :

Ayurveda : it is one of the traditional systems. It has a well-defined conceptual framework that
is consistent throughout the ages. It was among the first medical systems to advocate an
integrated approach towards matters of health and disease.

Yoga : yoga is an art organized and practiced in India from thousand years. It is defined as an
art of righteous living or an integrated system for the benefit of the body, mind, and inner spirit.

Unani : It was introduced in 10​th​ century A.D. with the spread of Islamic civilization. Unanipathy
has become an important part of Indian system of medicine and is very much similar to
Ayurveda.

Siddha : it comes from the word Siddhi which means an object to attain perfection or heaven. It
has emerged as an important and unique system of Indian medicine as compared to other
traditional medical systems in existence.

Naturopathy : it deals with the healing power of nature as it assumes that all healing power is
within our body. It regards that when we go against nature only then we fall ill.

Homeopathy : it consists of two words ‘homeo’ meaning similar and ‘pathos' meaning suffering
or treatment. In this system, a drug and a disease that produce similar symptoms cancel each
other. Its remedies are free from side effects.

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Q21 How can we increase the effectiveness of health care programmes ?

Answer. Health is a vital public good and a basic human right. All the citizens can get better
health facilities if the public health services are decentralized. Success in the long term battle
against diseases depends on education and efficient health structure. It is critical to create
awareness on health and hygiene and provide efficient systems. The role of telecom and IT
sectors cannot be neglected in this process. The effectiveness of healthcare programmes also
rests on primary healthcare. The ultimate goal should be to help people move towards a better
quality of life. The sharp divide between rural and urban healthcare in India cannot be ignored
as it runs the risks of destabilizing the socio-economic fabric of the country. To provide basic
healthcare to all, accessibility and affordability need to be integrated in our basic health
infrastructure.

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