question_answer

What do you mean by public facilities? Why are they important? Explain the utility of two public facilities available in India.                                                                            (5)  

Answer:

Public facilities are those provided by the government, instead of by individuals or private sources. For this reason they may be either highly subsidized or totally free of cost. They are important because many persons do not have enough income to be able to avail facilities provided by the private sector, resulting in difficulties faced like inadequate healthcare, poor nutrition etc. One public facility is the Public Distribution System (PDS) which provides fair average quality of food grains and other essential items to the weaker sections of the population at subsidized prices. The other is healthcare in government hospitals and dispensaries, which is provided to all at subsidized rates. This includes outpatient as well as hospitalization facilities.