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Social Infrastructure

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Summary of Social Infrastructure

Social infrastructure means infrastructure and facilities which provide services, important for societal advancement and national growth. Investments in social infrastructure strengthen processes, connections, and structures, creating a sustainable, just, and equal world. It includes assets related to culture, environment, economy, and society. Public schools and parks contribute to economic opportunities, healthier societies, and cultural hubs, fostering interpersonal interactions and promoting a more egalitarian society. Economic infrastructure, such as power, transport, and communication, complements the functions of social infrastructure, such as schools, hospitals, and art and culture. Social infrastructure contributes to the production of goods and services and social welfare, making it important for human development.

Social Infrastructure is a system that provides health, education, public services, and recreation, ensuring quality employment opportunities for a diverse population. It is a combination of economic, physical, and social infrastructures that facilitate community development. Social Infrastructure includes physical infrastructure, human resources, and intellectual capital needed to provide social services, and is crucial for long-term sustainable growth during Amrit Kal. It is essential for holistic and sustainable community development.

Social infrastructure is crucial for reducing inequality, poverty, and promoting economic expansion. It provides essential services and frameworks for economic growth, improves quality of life, and enhances human resource efficiency. Social infrastructure also aids in promoting equity and inclusive growth, ensuring sustainable development through reduced poverty, a healthy environment, and educated population.

Background of Social Infrastructure

Building a strong economy requires a two-pronged approach: infrastructure and people. Since the 1950s, India has invested in heavy industries like steel and power, with help from the World Bank. However, long-term success depends on developing people's capabilities through education, healthcare, and equal opportunities. International programs like structural adjustments aim to boost growth, but India's ultimate goal is to create a society free from poverty, illiteracy, and illness. Investing in social services and infrastructure, especially for the underprivileged, is key to achieving this goal. A healthy and educated population is the true engine of economic progress.

Introduction of Social Infrastructure

Social Infrastructure is a system that provides health, education, public services, and recreation, ensuring quality employment opportunities for a diverse population. It is a combination of economic, physical, and social infrastructures that facilitate community development. Social Infrastructure includes physical infrastructure, human resources, and intellectual capital needed to provide social services, and is crucial for long-term sustainable growth during Amrit Kal. It is essential for holistic and sustainable community development.

Importance of Social Infrastructure

Benefits of social infrastructure include:

Development of Social Infrastructure

Historically, the government has been primarily responsible for developing social infrastructure. However, public-private partnerships (PPP) are ideally suited for the construction and provisioning of social infrastructure.

India's present situation of social infrastructure

Progress from NFHS-4 to NFHS-5

Significant progress in population control measures in India.


National Health Policy, 2017 and Health Expenditure

Challenges related to social infrastructure

  1. Health Infrastructure:
    • Lack of basic infrastructure in primary and secondary healthcare systems.
    • Large population, demographic changes, environmental degradation, infectious diseases, and antibiotic resistance.
    • Strongly biased in favor of cities.
    • Qualified physicians are hesitant working in rural areas due to a lack of basic infrastructure.
    • Variations both within and across states in indicators
  2. Education Infrastructure:
    Absence of a comprehensive approach:
    • According to the UDISE+ 2021–22 report, there has been a progressive improvement in the facilities of government schools, with 95% of them having restrooms for girls. However, considerable efforts are needed in terms of drinking water facilities (73%), handwashing facilities (69%), medical facilities (40%), libraries with books (62%), energy connections to schools (61%), and library facilities (63%).
      • As a result, the schools are unable to foster an environment where kids feel happy and safe.
      • When a collaborative approach is needed for course preparation, the absence of staff rooms has an impact on instructors' socialization and instruction.
    • Finance accessibility is a major hurdle. There is centralized funding.
    • Inadequate examination and mapping of the current infrastructures.
    • variations both within and across states.
    • Local bodies' involvement is inadequate.
  3. Housing:
    Absence of technology during construction
    • Unable to obtain financing from established financial institutions.
    • lengthy, multi-tiered approval process that is prevalent in most local governments for urban areas.
    • Minimal involvement of the private sector in urban affordable housing initiatives.
    • The widespread use of traditional construction methods causes metropolitan areas to progress more slowly and uses fewer prefabricated and pre-engineered components.
    • Restricted access to banks of appropriate land for initiatives including cheap housing.
    • An ongoing increase in the population living in slums.
    • The Construction Sector Skills Development Council has been in operation since 2013, yet there are still not enough skilled masons.
    • Limitations on the capacity of urban local bodies (ULBs) to plan and develop large-scale housing initiatives.

Major initiative taken by government to develop the social infrastructure

  1. New Approaches
    • Social security programs tailored to different beneficiary segments.
    • Aadhaar, JAM trinity, and technology: together have transformed welfare delivery and enabled effective benefit delivery to the targeted beneficiaries.
    • Mission Utkarsh, aspirational block programs, and aspirational district programs are founded on the ideas of Jan Andolan, teamwork, competition, and seizing the low-hanging fruit for social progress.
    • Spending in the social sector increased sharply following the Covid-19 pandemic.
    • Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act - MGNREGA has been repurposed to create social infrastructure in rural areas, including play fields, village markets, Anganwadi centers, rainwater harvesting structures, rural roads, rural sanitation structures, solid and liquid waste management projects, and rural drinking water-related works (soak pits, recharge pits).
  2. Technology Powering the Social Infrastructure
    • Aadhar: It has enabled improved use of- The PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, JAM Trinity, Face authentication, CoWIN, Direct Benefit Transfers (DBT), Aadhar-enabled Payment System (AEPS), and One Nation One Ration Card (ONROC) Program.
    • E-Shram Portal: This national database of unorganized workers, which includes migrant laborers, construction workers, gig and platform workers, etc., is verified by Aadhar.
    • Goal: To raise the standard of living and dignity of the labor force in the nation by protecting workers' rights, seeing to their well-being, and offering social security benefits to both organized and unorganized workers.
  3. Networks
    • The network of all-women SHGs in India is vital to the following areas: better education, increased participation in village institutions, greater access to government initiatives, women's empowerment, better self-esteem, personality development, and less social evils.
    • Government programs in the fields of health and education are implemented on the basis of a well-established network of ASHA workers, Auxiliary Nurse Mid-Wife, and Anganwadi employees.
  4. Health Infrastructure:
    • According to data from 2020, there are 5,624 community health centers, 15,8417 sub-centers, and 24,855 PHCs.
    • Primary health centers (PHCs) and secondary health centers (SCs) are gradually being transformed into Health and Wellness Centers (HWCs) as part of the Ayushman Bharat program. They will be able to use these Centers to provide comprehensive primary healthcare services as a result.
    • ABHIM, the PM Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission: Enhancing the essential healthcare system from the village to the block to the district, regional, and national levels is its main goal. Its three parts are as follows:
      1. Development of complex diagnostic and treatment facilities
      2. Development of testing networks for illness diagnosis.
      3. Increased research centers for infectious diseases.
    • The goal of the Swachh Bharat Mission is to build the nation's solid waste management infrastructure, sewage treatment facilities, private and communal toilets, and sewerage networks.
    • With the help of eSanjevani and Co-WIN, India has improved the infrastructure for digital health.
    • Medical education:
      1. There are now new medical colleges and AIIMS.
      2. In an effort to eliminate regional disparities and promote equity, the government has established a policy of opening a medical college for every three parliament constituencies.
  5. Educational Infrastructure: Various schemes have been implemented
    • Sarv Siksha Abhiyan – This was mainly done to encourage the development of infrastructure up to the elementary school level in order to raise the literacy rate.
    • RISE scheme – Reviving Education's Systems and Infrastructure.
    • PM Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI) – There will be about 14,500 schools that are PM SHRI schools. They will be given access to state-of-the-art facilities (such as labs, smart classrooms, sports equipment, art spaces, etc.) to demonstrate how the New Education Policy 2020 is being implemented.
  6. Housing: Various schemes have been implemented.
    • PMAY-U & PMAY-G stands for Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana - Urban and Gramin.
    • Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana, or SAUBHAGYA for short.
    • DDUGJY stands for Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana.
    • Jal Jivan Mission
    • The National Housing Bank (NHB) to ensure Affordable Housing Funding.
    • PMAY(U) has been used to identify, assess, and promote sixteen new emerging technologies.
  7. Others:
    • Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY)

How is Social infrastructure different from Economic infrastructure

Both Social infrastructure and Economic infrastructure are essential components of a nation's overall development, but they serve different purposes and support different aspects of society and the economy.

Social Infrastructure Economic Infrastructure
Social infrastructure provides services which cater the social needs of the people. Economic infrastructure refers to the facilities that support economic activities, such as transportation, energy, communication, and financial systems.
The primary purpose of the Social infrastructure is to improve the quality of life and well-being of individuals and communities. The primary purpose of economic infrastructure is to facilitate economic growth and development.
Its components include Education, Health, Housing etc. Its components include transportation, energy, financial systems like banks etc.

Conclusion of Social Infrastructure

Long-term Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) can be utilized to construct social infrastructure in a sustainable manner, allowing citizens to participate in infrastructure creation and maintenance. This can help to develop a citizen-led system of checks and balances with the government. Increasing public spending on healthcare and education infrastructure can help to address the distribution bias while also mapping requirements and assessing performance using technology. Efficient land use can be achieved by freeing vacant land and simplifying regulatory requirements for housing construction. Sustaining public spending on the social sector is critical, with the health sector attaining the 2.5% objective set by the National Health Policy 2017. Increased educational spending is required to make education more inexpensive, inclusive, and accessible. A decentralized strategy to financing can also be considered.

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