Class 12-commerce NCERT Solutions Economics Chapter 8: Infrastructure

Infrastructure refers to the supporting services in the main areas of industrial and agricultural development, trade and commerce. It includes roads, railways, ports, airports, dams, telecommunication, schools and hospitals. It is the foundation of all activities in an economy. It supplies the basic input for the production process. Installed infrastructure can be used for long periods and enhances productivity in an economy.

Economic infrastructure and social infrastructure are the two categories of infrastructure.

Economic infrastructure refers to all such elements of economic change which serve as a foundation for economic growth. For example, adequate supply of power to increase the production level, means of transport to distribute goods from producers to consumers and movement of goods from the place of goods in abundance to the place of goods in scarce. So, an economy can have an efficient system through proper economic infrastructure facilities. These facilities increase the standard of living of the people and pick up the pace in the process of growth.

Social infrastructure refers to the main elements of social change which serve as a base for social development of a country. It contributes to economic processes indirectly and from outside the systems of production and distribution. For example, hospitals, educational institutions, sanitary conditions and housing facilities provide the scope for development of skilled personnel and efficient resources. These facilities increase the quality of life of the people and pick up the pace in human development.

However, these elements of change in economic infrastructure will be useful only if an economy has an educated and healthy population. This emphasises the importance of elements of change in social infrastructure along with changes in economic infrastructure. It is clear that these two categories of infrastructure are combined in growth and development of an economy. Hence, they both are interdependent.

Infrastructure facilitates the support system in an economy. This brings about economic development of a country both by increasing the productive efficiency of the factors of production and by developing the quality of life of the people. An efficient system of an economy highlights the significance of the infrastructure facilities in development. For example, agriculture production hardly depends on the natural means of irrigation in recent days. This implies that agricultural productivity will be much lower than the potential productivity in the absence of a permanent means of irrigation. So, agricultural production can increase only with the expansion and development of irrigation facilities and power supply. On the other hand, industrial production can increase with the development of energy, transport and communication. For example, energy is more widely used in industries for production and transport of goods. Thus, infrastructure boosts production and contributes to economic development.

Yes, infrastructure contributes to the economic development of a country. The significant role of infrastructure can be observed from the following information: 

1. Increase in productivity: Investment in modern infrastructure provides the foundation for the development of an economy. If infrastructure is maintained and modernised as new technologies emerge, then it will improve the efficiency and productivity of goods and services in an economy. Construction of roads and bridges, telecommunication and internet helps society to increase the productivity and standard of living of the people. This implies that good quality road connectivity is required for transporting raw materials to manufacturing industries and finished goods to the market for satisfying the consumer's demand.
2. Encourages investors: Infrastructure encourages investors to invest in many productive activities. Low investment leads to low level of production and backwardness of an economy. Well-developed infrastructure attracts foreign investors, stimulates commerce and supports local businesses. It creates more job opportunities, and hence, the people enjoy quality life, better health care, sanitation and other markings of well being.
3. Generates linkage in production: When one industry operates efficiently with better infrastructural facilities such as modern roadways, railways, shipping, banking and insurance, it enables the other related industries to grow along with it. So, infrastructural development ensures better inter-industrial linkages.
4. Enhances market size: Better road connectivity provides smooth movement of raw materials to manufacturing industries and final goods to the market. This enables large-scale production, and thus, it captures more market at the national and international levels.
5. Enhances ability to work: Development of social infrastructure improves the standard of living of workers. It enhances the productivity of human beings and contributes to increasing labour productivity, encouraging innovation and creating the ability for new technology. 

Because of a rapid growth of population, providing safe and sufficient drinking water supply and proper sanitation for the community becomes very difficult. This leads to many health risks in rural areas. In rural areas, PHCs do not have diagnostic labs for blood testing.

Poor households survive in crowded and insanitary places. They face the problem of contaminated food, water and live in sub-standard dwellings lacking space, air and sunlight. According to the estimates, the housing shortage in the country is about 31 million houses with a shortage of 20.6 million houses in rural areas. Only 56% of households have an electricity connection and 43% still use kerosene. Only 20% of the rural people have access to improved sanitation.

Despite so much of technological progress, women of rural India are still using cow dung, agricultural waste and firewood for their regular cooking and heating requirements.  Tap water is available only to 24% of rural households, and 76% of rural households drink water from wells and ponds. They go long distances to fetch water and other basic requirements. So, the government needs to focus on providing infrastructure facilities to the rural people which in turn promotes the development of the nation.

Energy is an important aspect for the development of an economy. It is widely used in industries, and recently, it is used in agriculture and allied activities such as production, transport and fertilisers. It is also used for cooking, heating and lighting houses. 

Basic sources of energy generation:

1. A thermal power plant converts heat energy to electric power for industrial purposes.
2. Hydroelectric power produces electricity through the use of kinetic force of falling water.
3. Nuclear plant produces electricity through the fission of uranium and not the burning of fuels. These power plants do not pollute the air with nitrogen oxides, sulphur oxides, dust, or greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide.

In 2018, the thermal sources accounted for 82%, hydel power sources accounted for 8.5% and nuclear power accounted for only 2.5% generation capacity in India.

While distributing generated electric power to power stations, it passes through huge complex networks (such as transformers, cables, other equipment) and finally reaches consumers. Generally, the units of power generated in the power station will not be equal to the units of power reaching consumers. This is because some portion of the power is lost in distribution. So, the transmission and distribution loss is the difference between the units of power generated and the units of power distributed. These units of loss are not paid by consumers.  

Measures to reduce the loss in power transmission and distribution: 

1. Improved technology is required in distribution. For example, the grid which synchronises power generation with transmission and distribution of power. This facilitates economising and increasing reliability to avoid loss of power.
2. Participation of the private sector is needed in the generation of power to improve efficiency and avoid wastages in distribution.
3. The government should follow firm rules and regulations to handle cases of electricity theft. This may minimise the loss in power transmission and distribution. 

Non-commercial sources of energy are available free of cost to users. For example, fire wood, agricultural waste and cow dung. These are used for domestic and consumption purposes.

The energy crisis in India is the result of extreme use of non-renewable sources of energy in the present scenario. They are coal, petroleum products, natural gas and electricity (thermal power and atomic power) which are mostly exhaustible except hydro power. These resources are in limited quantity and cannot be replenished by nature. So, these resources should be used for fulfilling the present needs in such a manner that they can also be used by future generations. If the resources are not absorbed and used sustainably, it will lead to energy crisis in India. This has created a threat for sustainable development of an economy. Renewable sources of energy are inexhaustible and can be replenished by nature such as solar energy, wind energy and tidal energy. These resources can be used to produce energy through cost-effective technologies. Thus, energy crisis can be overcome with the use of renewable sources of energy. 

In India, commercial energy consumption makes up about 74 percent of the total energy consumed in India. This includes coal and lignite with the largest share of 74 percent, followed by oil at 10 percent, natural gas at 9 percent, hydro and other new and renewable energy at 7 percent. Non-commercial energy sources consisting of firewood, cow dung, and agricultural wastes account for over 26 percent of the total energy consumption.

The sectoral pattern of consumption of commercial energy 1953-54 to 2017-18.

• The transport sector was the largest consumer of commercial energy in 1953-54. However, there has been a continuous fall in the share of the transport sector to 1 % in 2017-18.
• While the shares of the household, agriculture, and ‘other’s’ have been increasing.
•  The share of the household sector in energy consumption has increased since 1953-54. The share of the industrial sector has not changed much during the same time period.

Over the years there has been an overall increase in the use of energy in India due to rapid economic growth.

Rate of consumption of energy is directly related to the rate of economic growth. This is clearly specified in the following points:

1. An increase in the production of the agricultural sector depends largely on the adequate expansion and development of irrigation facilities and use of modern technology in the form of mechanised agriculture. So, there will be an increase in energy consumption to encourage agricultural production, and thus, it leads to economic growth.
2. An increase in production of the industrial sector depends on the development of electricity generation, transport and communication. This in turn requires energy from different sources. This increase in energy consumption for increasing industrial productivity leads to economic growth.
3. This economic growth raises the standard of living of the people, and therefore, an increase in the demand for electrical home appliances which requires more energy from different sources. 

Problems faced by the power sector in India:

1. Insufficient electricity generation: The total installed power generation of electricity in India was 2,33,929 MW in 2013. However, India is still unable to meet the increasing demand for electricity. This excess demand raised many problems such as excessive load, low voltage, fluctuations in the distribution of electricity and frequent power supply disruption.  
2. Underutilisation of production capacity: The utilisation of power capacity is measured by plant load factor (PLF), i.e. dividing electricity generated by production capacity. In 2001-02, the PLF was only 60% and the remaining 40% was wasted in the process. The PLF increased to 78.6% in 2007-08 and it further reduced to 65.09% in 2014. So, there is underutilisation of production capacity in thermal power plants. 
3. Loss by electricity boards: State electricity boards incurred heavy losses. This is because of the loss of electricity during transmission and distribution, theft of electricity and supply of electricity at low prices to farmers and small industries.  

Reforms which have been initiated recently to meet the energy crisis in India:

1. Power generation sector: The power generation sector has been opened to the private sector, and monopoly control of the government in the generation and distribution of electricity has been removed. This raised competitiveness among players in an open economy.  
2. Power transmission and distribution: The government has allowed private companies such as Tata Power and Reliance Energy along with Power Grid Corporation of India to construct transmission networks and distribute power supply in certain states.
3. Regulatory system: The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) and State Electricity Regulatory Commission (SERC) have been established in 19 states under the Electricity Regulatory Commission Act, 1998, to regulate tariff and to promote efficiency and competition.
4. Tariff: Tariff rates have been restructured upwards to discourage unnecessary consumption of power and reduce the losses of state electricity boards.
5. Initiation of new programmes: Accelerated Power Development and Reform Programme (APDRP) was initiated in 2000-01 with the objectives of improving financial profitability, reducing loss in transmission and distribution, and promoting transparency through a computerised system.
6. Awareness programmes: The government created awareness among the public about the conservation of energy. It initiated various programmes such as National Energy Efficiency Programme (NEEP) to conserve petroleum products and use of non-conventional sources of energy (e.g. solar energy). 

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

The health status is usually measured in terms of life expectancy at birth, infant mortality rate, fertility rate, crude birth rate, and crude death rate. As investment in health increases, the productive capacity of the working population and the level of income rise which contribute to a decline in the incidence of poverty. But the health status of a great majority of the people is far from satisfactory as compared to other developed countries. However, over the last five decades, India has built up health infrastructure and manpower at the primary, secondary and tertiary care levels in government, voluntary and private sectors and made considerable progress in improving the health of its population.

Health indicators in India:

Source: World Development Indicators, 2019, World Bank, Washington

Global burden of disease is an indicator which assesses the burden of disease by using the disability adjusted life year (DALY) according to the World Health Organization (WHO). This measure shows the number of years of life lost prematurely because of communicable or non-communicable diseases or the number of years lost because of time lived in states of less than full health.

Drawbacks of the Indian health system:

1. Lack of facilities to rural population: The most serious drawback of the healthcare system in India is the lack of facilities to rural population. The data reveals more number of private healthcare centres and rural hospitals but still the urban bias exists. There are 31.5% of hospitals and 16% hospital beds for 75% of the total population living in rural areas. There is a lack of access to specialised medical care such as paediatrics, gynaecology, obstetrics and anaesthesia. In rural areas, PHCs do not have diagnostic labs for blood testing. Also, many doctors are not interested in providing health services in rural areas.
2. Inadequate investment in health: According to the budget allocation, expenditure on the health sector is 4.2% of the total expenditure, which is low as compared to that of other countries. This investment is not adequate in the health sector, and hence, it leads to a low standard of living.
3. Inadequate medical personnel: In the health sector, medical personnel are not adequate to provide timely and quality health services for society. In 1999-2000, there were 5.5 doctors per 10,000 people in India. Hospitals are also comparatively less for the high population in India. There is a lack of measures to fight against AIDS in our health system.
4. Lack of medical research: Medical research on drugs and vaccines for tropical diseases are overlooked by foreign pharmaceutical industries as it fetches less profit. So, the government has to allocate funds for national medical research centres to undertake research in this area. 

Women constitute about 50% of the total population in India. They have less opportunity as compared to men in the fields of education, health care and participation in economic activities. The child sex ratio has declined from 927 in 2001 to 914 in 2011. There is growing incidence of female foeticide in India. The data shows that nearly 300000 girls under the age group of 15 years were married and gave birth to a child at least once. More than 50% of the women aged between 15 and 49 years are anaemic because they are iron deficient and thus lead to 19% of maternal deaths in India. The main cause of maternal morbidity and mortality is abortion. So, women's health across the country should be taken into more concern as a healthy mother gives birth to healthy offspring, and thereby the health status of people can be improved.

Public health is the science and practice of protecting the health of a community through preventive medicines, health education, control of communicable diseases, application of sanitary measures and monitoring of environmental hazards.  

Measures to control diseases

1. In many areas, camps are organised for the immunisation of children against tetanus, polio and diphtheria.
2. National anti-malaria eradication programme has been initiated to protect from malaria, encephalitis and filaria.
3. National leprosy eradication programme has been initiated to care for more than 5 lakh leprosy patients.
4. There are national control programmes for TB, goitre and the prevention of blindness.
5. National AIDS Control Organisation cares, prevents and provides treatment for STD, HIV positive and AIDS-infected patients.
6. Safe and sufficient drinking water supply and proper sanitation for the community to control many health risks in society.
7. The government has developed health infrastructure equipped with trained manpower at different levels.
8. India has made good progress with respect to the service infrastructure. 

Six systems of Indian medicine are Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha, Naturopathy and Homeopathy (AYUSH).

1. Ayurveda: Ayurveda is basically a traditional system which was organised and introduced about 1500 BC. It is not considered an ethno medicine in India. Also, it is known for being a whole medical system taking into account the physical, ethical, psychological, spiritual and philosophical well-being of people. It gives importance to living peacefully in the Universe. So, this universal and holistic approach makes Ayurveda more unique in the medical system. Medical practitioners of this system suggested diet and lifestyle along with drug therapy. This system emphasised three elemental energies-wind, bile and phlegm. These three substances need to exist in equal quantities for a healthy body.
2. Yoga: Yoga is the physical, spiritual and mental practice which originated in ancient India. In the Vedic period, it was referred to in the Upanishads and Puranas by the Aryans. Many researchers determined the effectiveness of yoga as a complementary intervention for asthma, cancer and heart disease. Later, few others recommended yoga to reduce risk factors.
3. Unani: Unani (medicine in Arabic) is a widely accepted traditional medicine in South Asia. This system of medicine is based on Greek philosophy. This medicine relies on humoral theory which consists of the four humours in the body-blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile. These humours affect the state of health and disease of the body.
4. Siddha: Siddha is derived from the word siddhi which means an object to reach heaven. Traditionally, it is taught that the siddhars laid the foundation for the medical system. Many medical siddha practitioners are trained traditionally either in families or by gurus. This helps cure mental illness and provides a well-balanced mental state.
5. Naturopathy: Naturopathy is a form of pseudoscientific medicine. This method is based on vitalism and self-healing. Generally, naturopathy medical practitioners suggest against modern medical practice. 
6. Homeopathy: Homeopathy was introduced in 1796. This treatment is based on two references-Material Medica (collection of drug pictures) and Repertories (index of disease symptoms). Medical practitioners prescribe medicines based on symptoms of the body.  

Increase in effectiveness of healthcare programmes:

1. Huge investment for health facilities in rural and backward areas to bridge the gap between rich and poor and rural and urban areas.
2. Government regulation in the private health sector, participation of non-governmental organisations and community to create healthcare awareness. For example, SEWA in Ahmedabad and ACCORD in Nilgiris are NGOs working for health care in India.
3. Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha, Naturopathy and Homeopathy (AYUSH) are included in the Indian Systems of Medicine (ISM). There are 3,529 ISM hospitals, 24,943 dispensaries and 6.5 lakh registered practitioners in India. AYUSH has the potential to solve healthcare problems as it is effective, inexpensive and safe.   
4. Women's health across the country should be considered because a healthy mother gives birth to healthy offspring, and thereby the health status of the people can be improved.