JAC Class 7 Social Women – Jharkhand Board Solution

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 6 Understanding Media

September 5, 2024September 4, 2024 by Bhagya

JAC Board Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 6 Understanding Media

→ Media can be anything and everything ranging from the stall at the local fair to the program that we see on TV.

Media is the plural form of Medium. There are different ways through which we communicate with people and society. It is a means of communication.
Television, radio and newspapers are a form of media that reaches millions of people or the masses all over the country and the world thus, they are called mass media.

→ Media and Technology:

The technology that mass media uses keeps changing from time to time. Television and the use of the Internet is a very recent phenomenon as these have come into existence for less than twenty years.
Due to certain use of technologies, newspapers, television and radio can reach millions of people.
Newspapers and magazines are the part of the print media and Television and radio are the part of the electronic media.
Technology are making us more modem. Changing technology, or machines helps media to reach more people. It not only improves the quality of sound and the images that you see. But also changes the ways in which we think about our lives.
Television has enabled us to think as members of a larger global world. Television images travel huge distances through satellites and cables and allows us to view news and entertainment channels from other parts of the world.
Television, cell phones, internet has brought the world closer to us.

→ Media and Money:

The various technologies which mass media uses are very expensive. In a news studio, it is not only the newsreader who needs to be paid but also a number of other people who help to put the broadcast together, this includes those who look after the cameras and lights etc.
Most of the television channels and newspapers are part of big business houses.
To meet the expenses, they do number of things. One of them is advertising. The mass media earns money by advertising different things such as cars, chocolates, clothes, mobile phones, etc.
Advertisements are repeated in the hope that you will go out and buy what is advertised. It is the way of convincing the common people.

→ Media and Democracy:

The media plays an important role in providing news and discussing events taking place in the country and the world in democracy.
The ways in which they can take action on the basis of news is by writing letters to the concerned minister, organising a public protest, starting a signature campaign, asking the government to rethink its programme etc.
It is important that the information should be balanced as the media has been given the role in providing information.
A balanced report is one that discusses all points of view of a particular story and then leaves it to the readers to make up their minds.
A balanced report write ups depends on the media being independent. An independent media means that no one should control and influence its coverage of news. No one should tell the media what to write or what not to write.
In a democracy, an independent media is very important.
In reality, the media is far from independent. Reasons are there for it.
The control that the government has on the media is the first reason. When the government bans or cut either a news item or scenes from a movie or the lyrics of a song from being shared with the larger public this is known as censorship. There have been periods in Indian history when the government censored the media. Between 1975-1977, the worst of these was the Emergency period.
The second reason is that despite the absence of censorship by the government, most of the newspapers nowadays fail to provide a balanced story because the business houses control the media. At times, it is in the interest of these businesses to focus on only one side of the story. Since, media needs money to run, hence it links to advertising means that it becomes difficult for media to be reporting against people who give them advertisements.
Apart from these factors, to make the news story more interesting they show only one side of the story and to increase the public support.

→ Setting Agendas:

The media also plays an important role in deciding what stories to focus and emphasize on and decides on what is newsworthy.
By emphasizing and focusing on particular issues, the media influences our thoughts, feelings and actions, and brings those issues to our attention. Due to this significant influence, it plays in our lives and in shaping our thoughts and it is generally said that the media ‘sets the agenda’.
The media positively help us to focus on an issue that affects our lives and one that we might not even have been aware of it, had it not been for media reporting.
Though there are several occasions when the media fails to focus on issues that are very much significant in our lives.
Since it is a democratic country, the media has a very important role to play in our lives because it is through the media that we hear about issues related to the working of the government. The media decides what to focus on and in this way it ‘sets the agenda’.
This is important for us to be aware that the ‘factual information’ that a news report provides is often incomplete and can be one-sided. Therefore, we need to analyse the news before coming into conclusion of the issue or news.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 7 Markets Around Us

September 5, 2024September 4, 2024 by Bhagya

JAC Board Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 7 Markets Around Us

→ There are many types of markets that we may visit for our everyday needs: these can include shops, hawker’s stalls in our neighbourhood, a weekly market, a large shopping complex, perhaps even a mall.

→ Weekly Market:

The market which is held on a specific day of the week is known as the weekly market.
Weekly markets do not have permanent shops. Traders set up shops for the day and then close them up in the evening. Then they may set up at a different place the next day.
Many things are available at cheaper rates in weekly markets. The reason is when shops are in permanent buildings, they incur a lot of expenditure, they have to pay rent, electricity, fees to the government, etc. They also have to pay wages to their workers. In weekly markets, these shop owners store the things at home.
One of the advantages of weekly markets is that most things you need are available at one place.

→ Shops in the Neighbourhood:

We also buy things from other kinds of markets. There are many shops that sell goods and services in our neighbourhoods.
Many of these are the permanent shops while others are roadside stalls such as the vegetable hawker, the fruit vendor, the mechanic, etc.
Shops in the neighbourhood are useful in many ways. They are near our home and we can go there on any day of the week. Generally, the buyer and seller know each other and these shops also provide goods and things on credit.

→ Shopping Complexes and Malls:

There are other markets in the urban area that have many shops, popularly called shopping complexes.
These days in many urban areas there are large multi-storeyed air-conditioned buildings with shops on different floors known as malls.
In these urban markets, both branded and non-branded goods are found.
The companies producing the branded products, sell them through shops in large urban markets and at times through special showrooms as compared to non-branded goods, fewer people can afford to buy branded ones.

→ Chain of Markets:

The people who is present in between the producer and the final consumer are the traders. The wholesale trader first buys goods in large quantities.
Through these connections of traders that goods reach distant places. The retailer is the trader who finally sells this to the consumer.
This could be a trader in a weekly market, a hawker in the neighbourhood or a shop in a shopping complex.
A chain of markets is set up. Every city has areas for wholesale markets. This is where goods first reach and are then supplied to other traders. From these traders, the retailers buy and finally the buyers get it.

→ Markets Everywhere:

Buying and selling takes place in different ways, not through shops in the market only. People use phones and internet to place orders and get the things at their home.
There are markets that we are not so aware of because a large number of goods are bought and sold that we don’t use directly.
Generally, we don’t see all the buying and selling processes but only the final product.

→ Markets and Equality:

We can be buyers or sellers in these different markets which depends among other things and on the money that we have.
The weekly market trader earns very less compared to the profit of a shop owner in a shopping complex.
When things are sold, it encourages production and new opportunities are created for people to earn. Hence, there is inequality in the market.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 8 A Shirt in the Market

September 5, 2024September 4, 2024 by Bhagya

JAC Board Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 8 A Shirt in the Market

→ A chain of markets links the producer of cotton to the buyer of the shirt in the supermarket. Buying and selling takes place at every step in the chain.

→ A Cotton Farmer in Kurnool:

Cultivation of cotton is a very tough and difficult job. Cultivation of cotton is very expensive and requires high levels of inputs such as fertilisers and pesticides.
The farmers have to bear heavy expenses on account of these. The small farmers need to borrow money to meet these expenses.
Local traders were giving loans to farmers and in return they were buying their cottons from them at cheaper rates. They were very clever and making good amount of money.

→ The Cloth Market of Erode

Different varieties of cloth are sold in Erode’s bi-weekly cloth market in Tamil Nadu.
It is one of the largest cloth markets in the world.
Cloth that is made by weavers in the villages around is also brought in the market for sale. Offices of cloth merchants are present in the market who buy this cloth. Other traders from many south Indian towns also come and purchase cloth in this market.
On market days, weavers bring cloth that has been made on order from the merchant. These merchants supply cloth on order to garment manufacturers and exporters around the country. Merchants purchase the yam and give instructions and directions to the weavers about the kind of cloth that is to be made.

→ Putting-out System – Weavers Producing Cloth at Home

The merchant distributes and hand out the work among the weavers based on the orders he has received for cloth. The merchant give yam to the weavers and in turn the weavers supply him the cloth.
Two advantages are there for the weavers. They do not have to spend their money on purchase of yam. Second, the problem of selling the finished cloth is taken care of.
But this dependence on the merchants for raw materials and markets means that the merchants has a lot of power. They give orders for what is to be made and they pay a very low price for making the cloth.
The weaver never know for whom they are making the cloth or at what price it will be sold. At the cloth market, the merchants sell the cloth to the garment factories. The market works in favour of the merchants most of the time.
Weavers invest all their savings or borrow money at high interest rates to buy looms. He cannot work alone so he takes the help
of another adult family member. They work very hard and earn very nominal amount.
The arrangement between the merchant and the weavers is an example of putting-out system where the merchant supplies the raw material and receives the finished product. It is prevalent in the weaving industry in most regions of India.

→ The Garment Exporting Factory Near Delhi

The Erode merchant supplies the cotton cloth produced by the weavers to a garment exporting factory near Delhi. The garment exporting factory will use the cloth to make shirts.
The shirts will be exported to foreign buyers who are from the US and Europe who run a chain of stores.
They do business on their own term and conditions. They demand the lowest prices from the supplier and set high standards for quality of production and timely delivery. Any defects or delay in delivery is dealt with strictly. Hence, the exporter tries his best to meet the conditions.
The exporters having these conditions and pressures in turn cut the costs of weavers and maximize their own profit and supply the garment to foreign buyers at cheap rates.

→ The Shirt in the United States
The big businessperson who bought the shirts from the garment exporters in Delhi earn a huge amount of profit. Although, he spent some amount on advertising, storage, etc.

→ Who are the Gainers in the Market?
There were people who made profits in the market and there were some who did not gain as much from this buying and selling. Despite they have been toiled very hard, they earned very little.

→ Market and Equality

Democracy is also about getting a fair wage in the market.
The foreign businessperson made maximum profits in the market But, the garment exporter made only moderate profits. Whereas, file workers earned so less at the garment export factory that are barely enough to cover their day- to-day needs. Similarly, the small cotton former and tiie weaver at Erode put in long hours ofhard work but they did not get a lair price in the market for what they produced. The merchants or traders are somewhere in between.
Mostly the rich and the powerful that get the maximum earnings from the market. These are the people who have money and own the factories, the large shops, large land holdings, etc. The poor have to depend on the rich and the powerful for different things. They have to depend for loans, for raw materials and marketing of their goods and most often for employment.
Due to this dependency and inequality, the poor people are exploited in the market.
To overcome these situations, cooperatives of producers are formed and ensures that laws are followed strictly.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 9 Struggles for Equality

September 5, 2024September 4, 2024 by Bhagya

JAC Board Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 9 Struggles for Equality

→ The heart of democracy is equality and India is a democratic country. Unfortunately, there is inequality in the society. Only during election, on the polling day all adult citizen of India enjoys the equal rights to vote.

We have seen in earlier chapters as well that discrimination was always present with person such as Kanta, Swapna, Ansaris, Kavita, Melani and the list is long. For them, some people take initiatives and starts struggles for equality. For this cause, many people extend their support.
The major reason why so many people’s lives in India are highly unequal are poverty and lack of resources.
Another significant reason why people are treated unequally in India are discrimination on the basis of person’s caste, sex and religion.

→ Struggles for Equality:
Some of the persons become more widely recognised and well known because they have the support or represent large numbers of people who have united to address a particular issue of inequality.

In India, there are several struggles in which people have come together to fight for issues that they believe are important.
We can allude and refer the methods used by the women’s movement to raise issues of equality. Another example of people coming together to fight for an issue is the Tawa Matsya Sangh in Madhya Pradesh.
There are many such struggles such as those among beedi workers, fisherfolk, agricultural labourers, slum dwellers and each of them is struggling for justice in its own methods.

→ Tawa Matsya Sangh:

When dams are built or forest areas declared sanctuaries for animals, thousands of people are displaced. Most of these people are poor and forced to go somewhere else.
In urban areas too, bastis in which poor people live are often uprooted. Their work as well as their children’s schooling is severely hampered and disrupted.
This displacement of people and communities is a major problem that has become quite widespread in our country. People and activists usually come together to fight for this.
The Tawa Matsya Sangh is a federation of Fisherworker’s cooperatives which is an organisation fighting for the rights of the displaced forest dwellers of the Satpura forest in Madhya Pradesh.
The Tawa dam began to be built in 1958 and was completed in 1978. It submerged large areas of forest and agricultural land.
Some of the displaced people settled around the reservoir and apart from their meagre farms found a livelihood in fishing. They earned nominal amount.
In 1994, the government gave the rights for fishing in the Tawa reservoir to private contractors. These contractors drove the local people away and got cheap labour from outside.
The villagers stood united and decided that now it was time to set up an organisation and do something to protect the rights.
The newly formed Tawa Matsya Sangh (TMS) organised rallies and a chakka jam (road blockade) demanding their right to continue fishing for their livelihood.
In response to their protests and agitations, the government created a committee to assess the issue. On January 2,1997, people from 33 villages of Tawa started the new year with the first catch.
With the TMS taking over the charges, the fishworkers were able to increase their earnings substantially because they set up the cooperative which would buy the catch from them at a fair price.
The TMS has also begun giving the fishworkers loans for repair and the buying of new nets.
By managing to earn a higher wage as well as preserving the fish in the reservoir, the TMS has shown that when people’s organisations get their rights to livelihood, they can be good managers.

→ The Indian Constitution as a Living Document:
The Indian Constitution recognises the equality of all persons. Movements and struggles for equality in India continuously refer to the Indian Constitution to make their point about equality and justice for all.

By referring to the Constitution the people use it as a ‘living document’, i.e., something that has real meaning in our lives. In a democracy, there are always communities and individuals trying to expand the idea of democracy and push for a greater recognition of equality on existing as well as new issues.
The issues substantially affect poor and marginalised communities, and hence, concern economic and social equality in the country.
This is the basic principal of the struggle for equality in a democracy. The dignity and self-respect of each person and their community can only be realised if they have adequate resources to support and nurture their families and if they are not discriminated against.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 5 Women Change the World

September 4, 2024September 3, 2024 by Bhagya

JAC Board Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 5 Women Change the World

→ Still getting an education was one way in which new opportunities were created for women.

→ Fewer Opportunities and Rigid Expectations:

Many people believe that women make better nurses because they are more patient and gentle.
This is linked to women’s roles within the family. In the same way, it is believed that science requires a technical mind and girls and women are not capable of dealing with technical things.
Most of the people believe in these stereotypes, hence many girls do not get the same support that boys do to study and train to become doctors and engineers.
Once girls finish their school, they are encouraged by their families to see marriage as their main aim in life.
We live in a society in which all children face pressures from the world around them. Sometimes, these come in the form of demands from adults. At other times, they can just be because of unfair teasing by our own friends.

→ Learning for Change:

• An extremely important part of our life is going to school. As more and more children enter school every year, we begin to think that it is normal for all children to go to school.
In the past, the skill of reading and writing was known to only a few. Most children learnt the work their families or elders did. The situation was worse for the girls. In communities that taught sons to read and write, daughters were not allowed to learn the alphabet. Even in families where skills like pottery, weaving and craft were taught, the contribution of daughters and women was only seen as supportive.
In the nineteenth century, many new ideas about education and learning emerged. Schools became more common and communities that had never leamt reading and writing started sending their children to school but there was a lot of opposition to educating girls even then.
Around 200 years ago, Rashsundari Devi (1800-1890) was bom in West Bengal. At the age of 60, she wrote her autobiography in Bangla. Her book titled A mar Jiban is the first known autobiography written by an Indian woman.
During that time, it was believed that if a woman leamt to read and write, she would bring bad luck to her husband and become a widow.
She leamt the alphabets with great efforts and read the Chaitanya Bhagabat as well. There were days when she did not have a moment’s rest, no time even to sit down and eat.
Another example is about Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain (1880-1932) who did a lot in the field of education for women. She herself knew how to read and write Urdu. Later, she also learnt to read and write English and Bangla. She wrote a phenomenal story named ‘Sultana’s Dream’.

→ Schooling and Education today:

Though today, both boys and girls attend school in large numbers. Yet, there are differences between the education of boys and girls.
India has a census every 10 years which counts the whole population of the country along with other details.
According to the 1961 census, about 40 per cent of all boys and men were literate compared to just 15 per cent of all girls and women. In the census of2001, these figures have grown upto 76 per cent for boys and men and 54 per cent for girls and women. But, then also there is a huge gap.
Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) girls leave school at a rate that is higher than the category of ‘All Girls’. It means that girls who are from Dalit and Adivasi backgrounds are less likely to remain in school. The 2001 census also found that Muslim girls are less likely than Dalit and Adivasi girls to complete primary school.
In many parts of the country, especially in rural and poor areas, there may not even be proper schools nor teachers who teach on a regular basis.
Most families are too poor and not able to bear the cost of educating all their children. Boys may get preference in this situation. Many children also leave school because they are discriminated against by their teacher and classmates.

→ Women’s Movement:

Now, women and girls have the right to study and go to school. There are other spheres .such as legal reform, violence and health where the situation of women and girls has improved.
Women individually as well as collectively have struggled to bring about these changes. This struggle is known as the Women’s Movement. Individual women and women’s organisations from different parts of the country are part of the movement.
The diversity, passion and efforts of those involved makes it a very vibrant and energetic movement. Different methods and strategies have been used to spread awareness, fight discrimination and seek justice. Many men also supported this movement.

→ Campaigning:

Campaigns are to fight discrimination and violence against women are an important part of the women’s movement.
Campaigns also led to new laws being passed. In 2006, a law was passed to give women who face physical and mental violence within their homes are known as domestic violence some legal protection.
In 1997, to protect women against sexual harassment at the workplace and within educational institutions, efforts made by the women’s movement led the Supreme Court to formulate guidelines.
In the 1980s, women’s groups across the country campainged against ‘dowry deaths’ means cases of young brides being murdered by their in-laws or husbands, greedy for more dowry.
Women did so by coming on to the streets, approaching the courts, and by sharing information. Hence, this became a public issue in the newspapers and society and the dowry laws were changed to punish families who seek dowry.

→ Showing Solidarity
The women’s movement is also about showing solidarity with other women and causes.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 1 On Equality

September 4, 2024September 3, 2024 by Bhagya

JAC Board Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 1 On Equality

→ Equality is the main characteristics of democracy and affects all aspects of its functioning.

→ Equal Right to Vote:

In India which is a democratic country, all adults irrespective of what religion they belong to, how much education they have had, what caste they are, or whether they are rich or poor are allowed to vote is called Universal Adult Franchise.
The idea of universal adult franchise is based on the idea of equality because it states that every adult in a country, irrespective of their wealth and the communities she/he belongs to, has one vote.

→ Other Kinds of Equality:

Many kinds of inequalities exist in our country till now. One of the most common form is the caste system which is alive from centuries in India which also creates division among human beings.
Another form of inequality exists is lower castes or Dalits.
Dalit means ‘broken’ and lower castes are pointing to how they were and continue to be seriously discriminated against and exploited most of the time.
Dalits belong to the unprivileged class.
Omprakash Valmiki is a famous Dalit writer who wrote his harsh experience and feelings in his autobiography, ‘Joothari. He mentioned that how he was tortured by the teachers. He had to clean and sweep the floors and playgrounds while the other children were in the class studying.
There is another form of inequality which exists. The religion is also a big factor. The Ansaris were not given apartments on rent by many landlords and landladies because of they were from different religion. So made different types of excuses.

→ Recognising Dignity:

The three things – the caste we are bom into, the religion we practice and the class background we come from whether we are male or female determines why some people are treated unequally.
The above things happened with Omprakash Valmiki and the Ansaris who were treated unequally on the basis of differences of caste and religion.
The dignity of a person is violated when the person is treated unequally.
In the case of Omprakash and the Ansaris, they do not deserve to be treated like this. They deserve the same respect and dignity as anyone else.

→ Equality in Indian Democracy:

The Indian Constitution recognizes and acknowledges every person as equal. This means that every individual in the country including male and female persons from all castes, religions, tribes, educational and economic backgrounds are recognised as equal. This is not to say that inequality ceases to exist. It doesn’t.
Earlier no law existed to protect people from discrimination, torture and ill-treatment but now there are many works to see that people are treated with dignity and as equals. This means that no one can be discriminated against on the basis of their caste, creed, place of birth, religion, race, etc.

→ The recognition of equality consists some of the following provisions in the Constitution:

First, that every person is equal before the law. This means that every person from the President of the country to a domestic worker has to obey the same laws. Everyone is equal in front of law.
Second, no person can be discriminated against on the basis of their religion, race, caste, place of birth or whether they are female or male.
Third, every person has access to all public places including playgrounds, hotels, shops and markets. All persons can use publicly available wells, roads and bathing ghats.
Fourth, untouchability has been abolished.

→ The government has tried to implement the equality that is guaranteed in the Constitution by two ways.

First through laws
Second through government programmes or schemes to help disadvantaged communities.
Apart from the laws, the government has also set up several schemes to improve the lives of communities and individuals who have been treated unequally for several centuries.
The midday meal scheme is one of the steps taken by the government. This scheme was introduced in all government elementary schools to provide children with cooked lunch. The first state in India was Tamil Nadu to introduce this scheme, and in 2001, the Supreme Court asked all state governments to begin this scheme.
This midday meal scheme has many positive results. This has helped to lessen the caste prejudices because both lower and upper caste children in the school eat this meal together. Apart from this, in few places, Dalit women have been employed to cook the meal.
The midday meal scheme also helped to reduce the hunger of poor students who often come to school and cannot concentrate because their stomachs are empty. Hence, there is increase in the enrollment and attendance of poor children in school.
Despite of all these efforts, there continues to be a huge differences in our country between schools that the. rich attend and those that the poor children attends.
One of the reasons for the discrimination is that the attitudes change is very slow.
Establishing equality in a democratic society is a continuous struggle and one in which individuals as well as various communities in India need to contribute.

→ Issues of Equality in Other Democracies:

There are many democratic countries in the world where the issue of inequality exists. India is not the only country where there is inequality.
In the United States of America, the African-Americans whose ancestors were brought over from Africa to work as slaves, continue to describe their lives today as largely unequal and discriminated.
A day came when a huge agitation against the unequal ways in which African- Americans were treated and which came to be known as the Civil Rights Movement. It was started by Rosa Parks, an African- American woman who changed the course of American history with one defiant act.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited and banned discrimination on the basis of race, religion or national origin. It also stated that all schools would be open to African- American children and that they would no longer have to attend separate schools specially set up for them. In spite of this, a majority of African-Americans continue to be among the poorest in the country.

→ Challenge of Democracy:
The struggle for the recognition of all persons as equal and for their dignity should be maintained so that we can think of an equal people society. This issue of equality affects various aspects of our daily lives in democratic India.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 2 Role of the Government in Health

September 4, 2024September 3, 2024 by Bhagya

JAC Board Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 2 Role of the Government in Health

→ People expect the government to work tor their welfare in a democratic country and along with the provision of education, health, employment, housing or the development of roads, electricity, etc.

→ What is Health?

Health means our ability to remain free from illness and injuries. But health isn’t only about diseases, there are other factors as well that affect our health.
if people get clean drinking water or a pollution free environment they are likely to be healthy. While if people do not get adequate food to eat or have to live in cramped conditions, they will be prone to illness or unhealthy.
The various aspects of our lives which are a part of health are active positive not very anxious and without mental strain and stress.
Good health consists of both sound mind andbody.

→ Healthcare in India:

Healthcare facilities consists of health centres, hospitals, laboratories for testing, ambulance services, blood banks, etc., which can provide the required care and services that patients need.
To run these facilities we need health workers, nurses, qualified doctors and other health professionals who can advice, diagnose and treat illnesses. Apart from these, we also need the medicines and equipment that are necessary and required for treating patients.
In India there are numerous experienced doctors and nurses present. Public healthcare system is a system of hospitals and health centres run by the government. It has the ability to look after the health of a large section of its population scattered over hundreds of thousands of villages.
Though we have most of the facilities and positive developments but then also we are not able to provide proper healthcare facilities to people.

→ Public and Private Healthcare Services:
Healthcare services .is divided into two services:

Public Health Services
Private Health Services

→ Public Health Services:

A series of health centres and hospitals run by the government is known as the public health service. They are linked together because they cover both rural and urban areas and can also provide treatment to all kinds of problems from common illnesses to special services.
Primary Health Care centres are available in villages which has a doctor and a nurse to assist and to deal with common illnesses. Such a centre covers many villages in a rural area. .
The District Hospital at the district level, supervises all the health centres. Large cities have many government hospitals.
For several reasons health service is called as ‘public’. To fulfil its promise and commitment of providing healthcare to all citizens, the government has established these hospitals and health centres. The resources needed to run these services are obtained from the money that we, the public, pay to the government as taxes.
The most important function of the public health system is that it is meant to provide quality healthcare services either free cfr at a low cost so that the poor can seek treatment.
Another important function of public health is to take action to prevent the spread of diseases such as TB, malaria, jaundice, cholera, diarrhoea, chikungunya, etc. This has to be organised by the government with the participation and support of people otherwise it is not effective.

→ Private Health Facilities:

There is a vast range of private health facilities that exist in our country. A large number of doctors run their own private clinics and hospitals. In the rural areas, Registered Medical Practitioners (RMPs) are available. Urban areas have large number of doctors, many of them providing specialised services.
There are many laboratories that do tests and offer special facilities such as X-ray, ultrasound, etc. There are shops as well from where we buy medicines.
In private facilities, patients have to pay a lot of money for every service that they use but this is not the case in public health facilities.
Now there are large companies that run hospitals and some are engaged in manufacturing and selling medicines.

→ Healthcare and Equality:

Is adequate healthcare available to all?
In India, we face a situation where private services are increasing but public services are not. These private services are very expensive and it is difficult for poor people to afford the expenses. Apart from this, private facilities are available in urban areas only.
In order to earn more money and profit, these private services encourage practices which are incorrect. At times cheaper methods are available but not used.
The fact is that approximately 20 per cent of the population can afford all the medicines that they require during an illness. Hence, even for middle class people as well, medical expenses cause hardship.
In a study it was reported that nearly 40% of the people who are admitted in hospital had to borrow money or sell some of their possessions for their illness.
Poor people are undernourished and tend to fall ill frequently.
These poor families are not eating as much as they should. They are not provided basic necessities such as drinking water, adequate housing, clean surroundings, etc., and hence, are more likely to fall ill. The expenses on illness make their situation even worse and to sustain.
Many tribal areas have few health centres and they do not run properly and even private hospitals are also not present.
It is not only the deficiency of money that prevents people from getting proper medical treatment, it is also there lack of concerns as women’s health concerns are considered to be far less important than the health of men in the family.

→ What Can Be Done?

It is the responsibility of the government to provide quality healthcare services to all its citizens, especially to the poor and the disadvantaged.
Health is as much dependent on basic amenities and social conditions of the people, as it is on healthcare services.

→ The Kerala Experience:

Kerala government gave 40% of the budget to the panchayats in 1996 to provide better environment in terms of healthcare, education, living standards, etc. to the rural peoples.
Water supply schemes were checked, the working of schools and anganwadis was ensured and specific problems of the village were taken up to solve. Health centres were also improved. All of this helped to improve the situation. But then also, some problems such as shortage of medicines, insufficient hospital beds, not enough doctors stayed.

→ The Costa Rican Approach:

Costa Rica is considered to be one of the healthiest countries in Central America.
The Costa Rican government spend the money that the army would have used, on health, education and other basic needs of the people. They believed that a country has to be healthy for its development and pays a lot of attention to the health of its people.
It provides safe drinking water, sanitation, nutrition and housing. Health education is also considered very important and knowledge about health is an essential and important part of education at all levels.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 3 How the State Government Works

September 4, 2024September 3, 2024 by Bhagya

JAC Board Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 3 How the State Government Works

→ Government works at three levels, they,are local, state and national.

→ Who is an MLA?

Members of the Legislative Assembly or MLAs are elected by the people. They then become members of the legislative assembly and also form the government. Hence, the MLAs represent people.
In India, every state has a Legislative Assembly. And, each state is divided into different areas or constituencies.
For example, Himachal Pradesh is divided into 68 assembly constituencies. From each constituency, the people elect one representative who then becomes a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA). These people who stand for election are from different parties.
A political party whose MLAs have won mote than half the number of constituencies in a.state can be said to be in a majority. The political party that has the majority is known as the ruling party and all other members are known as opposition.
After the elections, the MLAs belonging to the ruling or of majority party will elect their leader as who will become the chief minister.
The chief minister then selects other ministers for his government. After the elections, the Governor of the state appoints the chief minister and other ministers.
A Legislative Assembly is a place where all the MLAs, whether from the ruling party or from the opposition meet to discuss various things about their state. Hence, some MLAs have dual responsibilitie-one as an MLA and the other as a minister.

→ A Debate in the Legislative Assembly:

In a democracy, the members of the Legislative Assembly can ask questions, debate on important issue, decide where money should be spent, etc. They have the main authority.
The MLAs are together responsible for the work of the government. Here, the word ‘government’ refers to government departments and various ministers who head them. The overall head is the chief minister.
This is known as the executive part of the government. All the MLAs who assemble together in the legislative assembly are known as the Legislature. They are the ones who authorize and supervise their work.

→ Working of the Government:

In a democracy, there are many ways through which people express their views and also take action.
Sometimes after the discussion in the assembly, press conference are organised by the minister.
Ministers also visit the areas where there are problems and meet the suffered people.
The government announces compensations as well as solves the problems faced by the suffered families.
Enquiry committees are made to look into different problems such as water problem, sanitation, etc.
The people who are in power means the chief minister and the minister need to take actions. They do so through different departments such as the Public Works Department, the Agriculture Department, the Health Department, the Education Department.
The chief minister and other ministers also have to answer questions that are asked in the Legislative Assembly and convince people asking the questions that what proper steps are being taken.
The government can also decide to make new laws for the state regarding sanitation and health facilities.
Laws for the entire country are made in the Parliament.
In a democracy, it is the people who elect their representatives as Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs). Hence, it is the people who have the main authority.

→ A Wallpaper Project:
A wallpaper is an interesting activity through which research can be done on particular topics of interest.

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes

JAC Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 4 Growing Up as Boys and Girls

September 4, 2024September 3, 2024 by Bhagya

JAC Board Class 7 Social Science Notes Civics Chapter 4 Growing Up as Boys and Girls

→ Being a boy or a girl is an important part of one’s identity. The roles women play and the work they do are usually valued less than the roles men play and the work they do.

→ Growing Up in Samoa in the 1920s:

In Samoan society, children did not go to school. Instead, they learnt many things such as how to take care of children or do household work from older children and from adults.
Young people learn fishing which was a very important activity on the islands. But they learnt these things at different points in their childhood.
Both boys and girls looked after their younger siblings.
The time when a boy was about nine years old, he joined the older boys in learning outdoor jobs such as fishing and planting coconuts.
Girls had to continue looking after small children or do tasks for adults till they were teenagers.
After attaining the age of fourteen or so, girls also went on fishing trips, worked in the plantations and learnt how to weave baskets.
In special cooking-houses, cooking was done. Boys were supposed to do most of the work while girls helped with the preparations.

→ Growing Up Male in Madhya Pradesh in the 1960s:

The following points are taken from a small town scenario in Madhya Pradesh.
From Class VI onwards, boys and girls went to separate schools.
The girls’ school was designed very differently from the boys’ school. They had a central courtyard where they played in total seclusion and safety from the outside world. Whereas, the boys’ school had no such courtyard and the playground was just a big space attached, to the school.
The girls always went in groups because they also carried fears of being teased or attacked. But the boys who used the streets as a place to stand around idling, to play, to try out tricks with their bicycles.
We realise that societies make clear distinctions and differences between boys and girls. This begins from a very tender and young age. Boys are usually given cars to play with and girls dolls.
All the ways of telling children that they have specific roles to play when they grow up to be men and women. Hence, how girls must dress, what games boys should play, how girls need to talk softly or boys need to be tough, etc.
In most societies which includes our own as well, the roles men and women play or the work they do are not valued equally. Men and women do not have the same status.

→ Valuing Housework:
All over the world, the main responsibility for housework and care-giving tasks, such as looking after the family especially children, the elderly and sick members lies with women. Although, the work that women do within the home is not recognised as work and assumed that this is something that comes naturally to women. Hence, they does not have to be paid for and society devalues this work.

→ Lives of Domestic Workers:

The domestic workers are employed particularly in towns and cities. They do a lot of work such as sweeping and cleaning, washing clothes and dishes, cooking, looking after young children or the elderly people.
Most domestic workers are women and sometimes even young boys or girls are employed to do this work.
Wages are low as domestic work does not have much value. They work very hard as well from early morning till night but employers doesn’t give much respect to them.
In fact, housework actually involves many different tasks and works. Heavy physical work also required to do a number of these tasks. In both rural and urban areas women and girls have to fetch water. In rural areas women and girls carry heavy headloads of firewood as well.
The work women do is strenuous and physically demanding, these words are actually associate with men normally.
Another characteristics of housework and care-giving is that we do not recognise that it is very time consuming and have much less time for leisure.

→ Women’s Work and Equality:

We all know equality is an important principle of our Constitution. The Constitution says that being male or female should not become a reason for discrimination. In reality, inequality between the sexes exists.
Hence, the Constitution recognises that burden of child-care and housework falls on women and girls and it has an impact on whether girls can attend school or not.
In many villages in the country, the government has set up anganwadis or child-care centres. The government has passed laws that make it mandatory for organisations that have more than 30 women employees to provide creche facilities. The provision of creches helps many women to take up employment outside the home. It also makes it possible for more girls to attend schools.