Page 219 - SST Class 08

Economic Presence of
q Need for government
q Areas of operations by the government
Introduction
The government of a country is responsible for its
development. Today the concept of government is
welfare-oriented. The economy of a country
depends on the prosperity of the people and
policies adopted by the government for their
economic welfare. That is, it should undertake such
activities which raise the standard of life, give social
and political rights, and make all those endeavours
which are necessary for the economic development
of the people.
NEED FOR GOVERNMENT
The government is the agency through which the
collective will of the people is formulated,
manifested, expressed and executed. The
government functions through three of its organs—
the legislature (law-making body), the executive
(the body which executes the laws) and the
judiciary (which interprets the laws and gives
justice to the people).
The popular statement of Abraham Lincoln about
the government says that it is of the people, by the
people and for the people. That means that the
government should look after the well being of
the people in all possible ways.
A pertinent question arises : Why at all should the
government undertake many of the functions
which can be performed by the private agencies?
For example, industries can be set up by the
private people, dams can be built by the private
people, railways and transports can be run by the
private people, and so on.
the Government 25
q Method of operation by the government
Difference of Motive
There is a difference of motive when a job is done
by the private sector or by the government (called
the public sector). The primary motive of the
private sector is to make profits. This is the reason
that the private sector would not like to run
transport service to a far-off border town simply
because hardly any people live there and it would
not earn any profit. On the other hand, the
government is bound to serve the people and
effect development of the country as a whole.
Therefore, it builds roads and runs transport
services even to the remotest village and town in
the country. A private doctor would not like to
practise in rural areas because the income is less;
while a government will post its doctors in the
remotest part only to give medical facilities to the
people. So, while the primary motive of the
private sector is profit, the primary motive for the
public sector is the development of infrastructure
and well being of the people.
F ind Outind Out
What efforts have been made by the government to
reduce unemployment?
Private Sector Vs Public Sector
In addition to the motive, there are other reasons
keeping which in view the private or public sector
starts work at a place. Building infrastructure
needs finances and other resources, which a
private company may not be able to invest. At the
time of independence, the foremost need of the
country was the development of infrastructure as
Economic Presence of the Government
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