Class 12 Economics Short Questions with Answers - Infrastructure

Q.1. What is social infrastructure?
Ans. Social infrastructure consists of facilities and systems that are necessary to ensure safe, healthy and productive life to the people in the community.

Q.2. Give examples of social infrastructure.
Ans. Social infrastructure includes:
(i) Education
(ii) Health
(iii) Housing

Q.3. What constitutes economic infrastructure?
Ans. Economic infrastructure consists of energy, transportation and communication.

Q.4. Explain the significance of social infrastructure.
Ans. The significance of social infrastructure lies in the following:
(i) It helps in the healthy and robust growth of the young generation so that they become an efficient manpower tomorrow.
(ii) Social infrastructure helps in the growth of literacy, which in turn helps in the growth of the society.
(iii) Social infrastructure helps in the skill formation, which is an important parameter in the context of economic growth.
(iv) It helps in improving and providing a quality life to the people.
(v) Social infrastructure helps in the formation of human capital, which complements the physical capital to form an efficient system of growth and development.

Q.5. Why is it important to have strong infrastructure?
Ans. Infrastructure is the support system of the economy. All the sectors of the economy - agriculture, industry, trade and commerce - greatly depend on the social and economic infrastructure for rapid and vast economic development. It is a network of public services, physical and social facilities that increases the efficiency of factors of production and improves the quality of people’s life. Thus, infrastructure plays a vital role in the economic development of a country.

Q.6. What type of fuels do rural women use to meet their energy requirements?
Ans. Rural women use bio-fuels such as crop residues, dung and fuel wood to meet their energy requirement.

Q.7. What percentage of rural population has access to improved sanitation?
Ans. Only 20 per cent of rural population has access to improved sanitation.

Q.8. How is the national income of a country related to the level of infrastructural development? Explain.
Ans. The composition of infrastructure requirements changes significantly with the increase in country’s national income. Basic infrastructure facilities such as irrigation, transport and power are more important for low-income countries. However, as economies grow and they are able to satisfy their basic consumption demand, the share of agriculture in the economy shrinks and more service related infrastructure become important. Thus, the share of power and telecommunication infrastructure is greater in high-income countries.

Q.9. What are the commercial sources of energy? Give examples.
Ans. Commercial sources of energy are those sources which are exchanged for money. Coal and petroleum are commercial sources of energy.

Q.10. What is the share of nuclear sources in the world’s total energy generation?
Ans. The share of nuclear sources in the world’s total energy generation is 13 per cent.

Q.11. Is CFL better than ordinary bulbs? Why?
Ans. CFLs are better than 100-watt bulbs as the former consume 80 per cent less power as compared to the latter.

Q.12. Name the two leading private sector companies that distribute electricity in Delhi.
Ans. The two leading private sector companies that distribute electricity in Delhi are:
(i) Reliance Energy Limited
(ii) Tata - Power Limited (NDPL)

Q.13. Which organisation monitors the power tariff structure in Delhi?
Ans. Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) monitors the tariff structure and other regulatory issues in Delhi.

Q.14. Which sources of energy are encouraged by India’s energy policy? Why?
Ans. India’s energy policy encourages hydel and wind energy as India has great potential in the use of renewable source of energy. The use of renewable energy sources can ensure additional supply of power. 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.

Q.15. What problems are faced by State Electricity Boards?
Ans. The following problems are faced by State Electricity Boards:
(i) SEBs suffer transmission and distribution losses, thereby making the economics of power generation completely unbalanced.
(ii) The pattern of investments being made in power generation is inappropriate. It leads to sharp increase in the cost per unit of electricity.
(iii) The high cost of power imposed on the industry, which is the backbone of the SEBs, is hindering the grid in gaining control and hence, worsening the crisis of the SEBs.

Q.16. Name the organisation that formulates policies and plans related to health programmes in the country.
Ans. The Central Council of Health and Family Welfare formulates policies and plans related to health programmes in the country.

Q.17. State the share of private sector in the total number of hospitals and dispensaries in India.
Ans. More than 70 per cent of the hospitals and around 60 per cent of dispensaries in India are run by the private sector.

Q.18. Who is an ANM?
Ans. An ANM (Auxiliary Nursing Midwife) is the first person who provides primary healthcare in rural areas.

Q.19. How can Indian System of Medicine solve large part of our health problems?
Ans. Indian System of Medicine can solve large part of our health problems as it is effective, safe and inexpensive.

Q.20. Give an account of the contribution of community and non-profit organisations to health care in India.
Ans. Community participation functions with the idea that the people can be trained and involved in primary healthcare system. Trade unions have built health care services to give low-cost health care to their members as well as to the people from nearby villages. For instance, Shahid Hospital was built in 1983 and is sustained by the workers of Chhattisgarh Mines Shramik Sangh in Durg, Madhya Pradesh. SEWA in Ahmedabad and ACCORD in Nilgiris are examples of some non-profit organisations that contribute to health care in India.

Q.21. List the indicators that assess the health status of a country.
Ans. Indicators that assess the health status of a country are:
(i) Infant mortality rate
(ii) Maternal mortality rate
(iii) Life expectancy
(iv) Nutrition levels
(v) Incidence of communicable and non-communicable diseases

Q.22. Highlight the points that reflect development in the health services after independence in India.
Ans. The following the points reflect development in the health services after independence in India:
(i) Decline in Death rates: Death rate has come down from as high as 27.4 per thousand in 1951 to 7 per thousand in 2012.
(ii) Reductions in Infant Mortality: Infants mortality rate has significantly reduced from 140 per thousand in 1951 to 44 per thousands in 2012.
(iii) Rise in Life Expectancy: Expectancy of life has risen from 50 years in 1951 to 66.21 years in 2012.

Q.23. Mention some premier institutions that provide specialised health care in India. Ans. Some premier institutions that provide specialised health care in India are:
(i) All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), New Delhi
(ii) Post Graduate Institute, Chandigarh
(iii) Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Pondicherry
(iv) National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Bangalore
(v) All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health, Kolkata