CBSE Class 11 Economics Infrastructure Notes

Economics Chapter-8 Infrastructure 

Relevance of infrastructure

• Improves Agriculture: Agriculture largely depends upon infrastructure for transportation of seeds, pesticides, insurance & banking facilities & carrying the produce to the markets through roadways, railways & shipping facilities.
• Generates Linkages in Production: Improved infrastructure generates an environment of inter- industrial linkages where expansion of one industry facilitates the expansion in another industry.
• Raises Economic Development: infrastructure contributes to the economic development of a country,both by increasing the productivity of factors of production & improving the quality of life of its people.
• Raises ability to Work: Social infrastructure enhances the quality & efficiency of a worker. This promotes skill formation & thus ability to work.
• Provides Employment: Infrastructure is the main source of employment for large labour force of our economy.

State of Infrastructure in India

Though infrastructure forms the basis for the economic development, India invests only 5% of its GDP on infrastructure which is much less than that of China & Indonesia.

The state of rural infrastructure is as follows:

• Rural women are still using bio- fuels such as crop residues, dung & fuel wood to meet their energy requirements.
• They walk long distances to fetch fuel, water & other basic needs.
• The census 2001 shows that in rural India, only 56% households have an electricity connection & 43% still use kerosene.
• About 76% 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%.

Q. How is development of infrastructure relates to an economic development?
A. In any country, as the income rises, the composition of infrastructure requirements changes significantly. For low income countries, basic infrastructure services like irrigation, transport & power are more important. As economies mature & most of their basic consumption demands are met, the share of agriculture in the economy shrinks & more service related infrastructure is required. This is why the share of power & telecommunication infrastructure is greater in high- income countries. Thus, development of infrastructure & economic development go hand in hand.

Energy
Energy is a critical aspect of the development process of a nation. It is used in industries, agriculture & for domestic purposes.

Consumption Pattern of Commercial Energy

• At present, commercial energy consumption makes up about 65% of the total energy consumed in India.
• Non commercial energy sources consisting of firewood, cow dung & agricultural wastes account for over 30% of the total energy consumption.
• Import dependence on crude & petroleum products is likely to grow rapidly in the near future.
• The transport sector was the largest consumer of commercial energy in 1950s. However, there has been a continuous fall in the share of the transport sector while the share of industrial sector has been increasing.
• The share of oil & gas is highest among all commercial energy consumption.

Power & Electricity
In India, electricity comes from three sources:

• Water- Hydro Electricity
• Mineral Fuels (coal & petroleum)- Thermal Electricity
• Atomic Minerals- Nuclear Electricity

Consumption Pattern of Electricity

• In India, thermal energy accounts for almost 70% of the power generation capacity.
• India’s energy policy encourages hydel & wind energy as they do not rely on fossil fuels & hence avoid carbon emission.
• Atomic energy has economic advantages & hence is considered as an important source of electric power.
• At present, nuclear energy accounts for only 2% of total energy consumption.

Some Challenges in Power Sector

• India’s installed capacity to generate electricity is not enough to feed an annual economic growth of 7%. Even the installed capacity is under utilized because plants are not run properly.
• State Electricity Boards (SEBs) incur losses due to transmission & distribution losses, wrong pricing & other inefficiencies.
• Private sector power generators are yet to play their role in a major way.
• There is general public unrest due to high power tariffs & prolonged power cuts.
• Thermal power plants are facing shortage of raw material & coal supplies.

Measures to Overcome the Problems of Electricity

• Increasing the usage of Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) instead of bulbs.
• More public investment, better research & development efforts, exploration, technological innovation & use of renewable energy sources can ensure additional electricity supply.
• Privatization should be brought forward in power generation & distribution.

HEALTH

Health is not only absence of disease but also ability to realize one’s potential. It is a yardstick of one’s well being.
People’s health is assessed by taking into account indicators infant mortality & maternal mortality rates, life expectancy & nutritional levels, along with the incidence of communicable & non communicable diseases.
Development of health infrastructure ensures a country of healthy manpower for production of goods & services.

Health infrastructure includes hospitals, doctors, nurses & other professionals, beds, equipments required in hospitals & a well developed pharmaceutical industry which is accessible to all the people.

State of Health Infrastructure
The Union govt. evolves broad policies & plans through the Central Council of Health & Family Welfare. It collects information & renders financial & technical assistance to govt. for implementation of important health programmes in the country.
Over the years, India has built a vast health infrastructure & manpower at different levels. Significant expansion of physical health services has resulted in the eradication of small pox, guinea worms & the near eradication of polio & leprosy.

Private Sector in Health Infrastructure
In recent times, while the public health sector has not been so successful in delivering the goods, private sector has grown by leaps & bounds. More than 70%of the hospitals & 60% of dispensaries are run by the private sector. In 2001-02, there were more than 13lakh medical enterprises employing more than 22lakh people.

Indian System of Medicine (ISM)
It includes 6 systems- Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha, Naturopathy & Homeopathy (AYUSH). At present there are 3000 ISM hospitals but a little has been done to promote these systems.

Emerging Challenges in Health Infrastructure (A Critical Appraisal)

High GBD (Global Burden of Disease)
- GBD is an indicator used by the experts to calculate the no. of people dying prematurely due to a particular disease as well as the no. of years spent by them in a state of disability due to the disease.
- India bears 20% of the GBD & more than half of GBD is due to communicable diseases. Malnutrition & inadequate vaccination leads to death of 2.2m children every year.
Poor State of Public Health Centers (PHC): At present, less than 20% of the population uses public health facilities. Around 35% of PHCs have required no. of doctors & adequate stock of medicines.
Urban – Rural Divide: Only 1/5th of the hospitals are located in rural areas & there are only 0.36 hospitals for every 1 lakh people. Villagers have no access to any specialized medical care. Even though every year 12000 medical graduates are passed, only few of them are willing to serve in rural areas due to lack of monetary prospects.

Women Health Condition: There is growing incidence of female feticide in the country. More than 50% of married women suffer from anemia caused by iron deficiency which leads to maternal death. The child sex ratio in the country has declined from 945 to 927 by 2001.

Measures to Improve Health Infrastructure

Awareness should be created on health & hygiene & provide efficient system.
The role of telecom & IT sectors cannot be neglected in this process.
Efforts should be made to develop PHCs.
Encouragement should be given to private- public partnership so as to make medicines affordable to all.
Health infrastructure should be made accessible in the rural areas also.

Important Notes for Class 11 Economics Chapter 8 Infrastructure

Introduction

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 including schools and colleges, health system including hospitals, sanitary system including clean drinking water facilities and the monetary system including banks, insurance and other financial institutions.
Some divide infrastructure into two categories economic and social. Infrastructure associated with energy, transportation and communication are included in the former category whereas those related to education, health and housing are included in the latter.

Relevance of Infrastructure

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.
Improvements in water supply and sanitation have a large impact by reducing morbidity from major waterborne diseases and reducing the severity of disease when it occurs.

Energy

Energy is a critical aspect of the development process of a nation. It is, of course, essential for industries.
Now it is used on a large scale in agriculture and related areas like production and transportation of fertilisers, pesticides and farm equipment.

Sources of Energy: -
There are commercial and non-commercial sources of energy.
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.

Non-conventional Sources of Energy: -
Both commercial and non-commercial sources of energy are known as conventional sources of energy.
There are three other sources of energy which are commonly termed as non-conventional sources solar energy, wind energy and tidal power.
Being a tropical country, India has almost unlimited potential for producing all three types of energy if some appropriate cost-effective technologies that are already available are used.

Power/Electricity: -
The most visible form of energy, which is often identified with progress in modern civilisation, is power, commonly called electricity.
It is a critical component of infrastructure that determines the economic development of a country. The growth rate of demand for power is generally higher than the GDP growth rate.
Electricity is a secondary form of energy produced from primary energy resources including coal, hydrocarbons, hydro energy, nuclear energy, renewable energy etc.

Health

Health is not only absence of disease but also the ability to realise one’s potential. It is a yardstick of one’s well-being.

State of Health Infrastructure: -
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 Union Government evolves broad policies and plans through the Central Council of Health and Family Welfare.

Private Sector Health Infrastructure: -
In recent times, private sector has been playing a dominant role in medical education and training, medical technology and diagnostics, manufacture and sale of pharmaceuticals, hospital construction and the provision of medical services.
Since the 1990s, owing to liberalisation measures, many non-resident Indians and industrial and pharmaceutical companies have set up state-of-the-art super-specialty hospitals to attract India’s rich and medical tourists.

Indian Systems of Medicine (ISM): -

It includes six systems:
1. Ayurveda
2. Yoga
3. Unani
4. Siddha
5. Naturopathy and
6. Homeopathy (AYUSH)

ISMs have huge potential and can solve a large part of our healthcare problems because they are effective, safe and inexpensive.

Indicators of Health and Health Infrastructure—A Critical Appraisal: -
As pointed out earlier, the health status of a country can be assessed through indicators, such as infant mortality and maternal mortality rates, life expectancy and nutrition levels, along with the incidence of communicable and non-communicable diseases.
One study points out that India has about 17 per cent of the world’s population but it bears a frightening 20 per cent of the global burden of diseases (GBD).
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 diarrhoea, malaria and tuberculosis.
Every year around five lakh children die of water-borne diseases. The danger of AIDS is also looming large.

Women’s Health

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.
More than 50 per cent of married women in the age group of 15–49 years have anaemia and nutritional anaemia caused by iron deficiency, which has contributed to 19 per cent of maternal deaths.
Abortions are also a major cause of maternal morbidity and mortality in India.

Conclusion

Infrastructure, both economic and social, is essential for the development of a country.
In the last seven decades of Independence, India has made considerable progress in building infrastructure, nevertheless, its distribution is uneven.
As India moves towards modernisation, the increase in demand for quality infrastructure, keeping in view their environmental impact, will have to be addressed.
While assessing the two-infrastructure energy and health, it is clear that there is scope for equal access to infrastructure for all.