What is Social Infrastructure: Meaning, Importance & Challenges [UPSC Notes]

What is Social Infrastructure?

Meaning of Social Infrastructure is to creating and maintaining facilities and structures that support the delivery of social services, which are essential for social development and, thereby, the overall development of a country.

Social Infrastructure is the set of organizational arrangements and investments in society’s systems, relationships, and structures that enable us to generate a just, equitable, more resilient, and sustainable world. It comprises social, economic, environmental and cultural assets.

For example, the more the number of public schools, the more equitable shall be the economic opportunities in society. More the number of public parks healthier the society will be. Such parks and schools shall also act as cultural assets for society creating public relationships.

Thus, Social Infrastructure can be defined as a system that creates a social safety net by providing health, education, public services and recreation.

Therefore, a robust social infrastructure customised to the country’s diversity and citizens’ unique needs can ensure the availability of quality employment opportunities for our large demography, which holds potential for long-term sustainable growth during Amrit Kal.

Social Infrastructure

• Economic, physical, and social infrastructures are interrelated components for holistic and sustainable community development.
• Social Infrastructure is often a combination of tanwgible and intangible assets that facilitates the development of society.
• The Social Infrastructure includes the physical Infrastructure, human resources, and intellectual capital needed to render social services.

Let’s understand this with an example of a school.

Importance of Social Infrastructure:

Social Infrastructure creates various positive externalities:

1. Human development – Reduce poverty and inequality. Expansion of opportunities and choices of people.
2. Economic growth – Social Infrastructure forms the foundational services and structures that contribute to economic development through increased income, better productivity, and technological advancement.
3. Better Quality of life – It includes policies, programmes, projects, schemes, and services of the government, and also the network of facilities, spaces, institutions and groups aimed at increasing the quality of life and living standard of the people.
4. Productive efficiency of human resources – An economy with better health and skill level is more productive.
5. Inclusive growth – Social Infrastructure plays a pivotal role in promoting equality and inclusive growth.
6. Better resource utilisation & Sustainable development – Lower poverty level, a healthy environment and an educated society are core dimensions of sustainable growth.

Therefore, good and adequate social Infrastructure is the key to achieving progressive communities.

It is for this reason that after the 1991 reforms, the development of social Infrastructure has become a key priority of the government to ensure that the benefits of fast-paced growth unleashed by the reforms also reach the vulnerable and marginalised sections of society and the underdeveloped regions of the country.

Development of Social Infrastructure

Social Infrastructure, traditionally, has been developed mainly by the government. However, social infrastructure development and provisioning are well-suited for public-private partnerships (PPP).

Status of India in terms of Social Infrastructure

• India ranked 132 out of 191 countries on the UNDP’s Human Development Index
• Gender Inequality Report: India ranked 122 in 2021.
• Multidimensional Poverty of India:
  1. 16.4% of Indians are multidimensionally poor.
  2. 18.7% are vulnerable to multidimensional poverty.
  3. The intensity of deprivation is 42%.
  4. India has an MPI score of 0.069.
• Basic facilities such as toilets (girls or boys), drinking water, and handwashing facilities have improved and are available in most government schools.
• There has been improvement in most of the health indicators between NFHS-4 (2015-16) and NFHS-5 (2019-21). However, performance in obesity has declined for all age groups, including children and adults.
• Government health expenditure (GHE) as a share of GDP is 1.3% in FY19.

Challenges

Health Infrastructure	Basic infrastructural facilities such as toilets, drinking water, clean labour rooms, and the power supply still ail most of the PHCc. As a result, the secondary and tertiary healthcare systems are heavily burdened.   Healthcare infrastructure is inadequate given that India has a huge population and emerging new challenges due to demographic and epidemiological transitions, environment degradation, emerging infectious diseases, and anti-microbial resistance. For example, the healthcare system almost reached a breaking point during the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak. Heavily skewed in favour of urban areas.   The lack of basic Infrastructure discourages qualified doctors from working in rural areas. Inter-state and intra-state variations.
Education infrastructure	Lack of holistic approach:  There has been a gradual improvement in government school infrastructure, with 95% of schools having girls’ toilets, per the UDISE+ 2021-22 report. However, in terms of library facilities (63%), libraries with books (62%), electricity connections to schools (61%), drinking water facilities (73%), handwash facilities (69%), and medical facilities (40%), significant efforts are required. Due to this, the schools fail to create a positive school climate for children.    The lack of staff rooms affects teachers’ socialisation and teaching when a teamwork approach for course preparation is required. Availability of finance is a significant bottleneck. Funding is centralised. Lack of comprehensive mapping and analysis of the existing infrastructures.  Inter-state and intra-state variations.   Insufficient role of local bodies.
Housing	Lack of technology for construction    Lack of access to finance from formal financial institutions.   Long-drawn out, multi-level approval system in urban areas in most municipal jurisdictions.   Limited private sector participation in affordable housing schemes in urban areas.    The predominance of conventional construction practices results in delayed progress in urban areas and the limited use of prefabricated and pre-engineered materials.  Limited access to suitable land banks for affordable housing projects.  A continued rise in the number of slum dwellers.  Insufficient number of trained masons despite the operation of the Construction Sector Skills Development Council since 2013. Capacity constraints in urban local bodies (ULBs) to formulate and design mass housing projects.

Initiatives taken by government to developer Social Infrastructure

The government has been instrumental in the development of the social Infrastructure.

New Approaches	Customisation of social protection schemes for various categories of beneficiaries.   Transforming welfare using technology, Aadhaar and JAM trinity. Aspirational districts programme, aspirational block programmes, and Mission Utkarsh are based on grabbing the low-hanging fruits for social development, the convergence of efforts, collaboration, competition, and Jan Andolan.   Sharp rise in social sector spending after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.   MNREGS has been repurposed to create social Infrastructure in rural areas, such as rural roads, rural sanitation structures, solid and liquid waste management projects, rural drinking water-related works (soak pits, recharge pits), village markets, Anganwadi centres, play fields, school construction works, coastal protection, rainwater harvesting structures etc.
Technology Powering the Social Infrastructure.	Aadhar – Aadhar-enabled Payment System (AEPS), JAM Trinity, Face authentication, CoWIN, Direct Benefit Transfers (DBT), PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, One Nation One Ration Card (ONROC) Scheme.   E-Shram Portal – It is an Aadhar-verified national database of unorganised workers, including migrant workers, construction workers, gig and platform workers etc. Aim: To improve the life and dignity of the country’s labour force by safeguarding the interests of the workers, ensuring their welfare, and providing social security for the workers in the unorganised and organised sectors.   National Career Service Project.
Networks	All-women SHGs network across India play a crucial role in financial inclusion, women empowerment, self-esteem enhancement, personality development, reduced social evils, better education, higher participation in village institutions and better access to government schemes.   A well-developed network of ASHA workers, Auxiliary Nurse Mid-Wife, and Anganwadi workers form the foundation for implementing government initiatives in the health and education sectors.
Health infrastructure	There are 24,855 PHCs, 15,8417 sub-centres, and 5,624 community health centres, as per 2020 data.    Under Ayushman Bharat programme, the Primary health centres(PHCs) and secondary centres(SCs) are being converted into Health and Wellness Centres (HWCs) in a phased manner. This will enable them to deliver comprehensive Primary Healthcare services through these Centres.   PM Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (ABHIM): It aims to improve the vital healthcare network from the village to block to the district, regional and national levels. Its 3 components are:  Development of complex diagnostic and treatment facilities   Development of testing network for illness diagnosis.   Increased research centres for infectious diseases.   Swachch Bharat Mission – to create sanitation infrastructure in the country in the form of individual and community toilets, sewerage networks, sewage treatment plants, solid waste management infrastructure etc.     India has further strengthened its digital health infrastructure through Co-WIN and eSanjeevani.   Medical education:    New AIIMS and medical colleges have been opened.   The government has made a policy to open a medical college per three parliament constituencies to remove regional differences and bring equitability.
Education Infrastructure	Sarv Siksha Abhiyan – This was primarily meant to promote an increase in the infrastructural facilities up to the elementary education for development and cause an increase in the literacy rate.    RISE scheme – Revitalizing Infrastructure and Systems in Education.   PM Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI) – Around 14,500 schools will be designated as PM SHRI schools. They will be provided with modern Infrastructure (labs, smart classrooms, sports equipment, art room, etc.) to showcase the implementation of the New Education Policy 2020.
Housing	Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban and Gramin (PMAY-U & PMAY-G).    SAUBHAGYA – Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana.   Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY).   Jal Jivan Mission.    The Union Budget 2018-19 announced the setting up of an Affordable Housing Fund in the National Housing Bank (NHB).   Sixteen new emerging technologies have been identified, evaluated and promoted under PMAY(U).
Others	·   Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY).

Difference between Social and Physical Infrastructure

	Physical Infrastructure	Social Infrastructure
Type of Development	Physical Infrastructure includes all the facilities and structures that directly improve economic development (i.e. production and distribution).	Social Infrastructure includes all the services that lead to human resource development.
Tangibility	Physical Infrastructure is always a tangible physical object.	Social Infrastructure can be both tangible, like hospital buildings, but also intangible such as a cooperative society.
Return on Investment	Physical Infrastructure is a quick way to boost economic growth.	Social Infrastructure lays the foundation for the long-term development of the nation. For example, IITs made 70 years ago prove to be beneficial assets today.
Example	For example, electricity distribution network.	The schools, colleges and hospitals etc.

Way Forward

• Long-term PPP can be used to develop social Infrastructure sustainably.
• Citizen participation in the creation and management of social Infrastructure.
• Creating awareness among citizens about their right to basic infrastructure (ex: spacious classrooms, playgrounds, drinking water facilities, electricity, etc.) can institute a citizen-led system of checks and balances vis-à-vis the government.
• Healthcare and Education:
  • Increasing public expenditure on public health and education infrastructure to correct the skew in the distribution of the healthcare infrastructure.
  • Use technology to map healthcare and education infrastructure needs and assess their performance.
• Housing:
  • Efficient use of land – by releasing the land lying idle with various sick/loss-making public-sector undertakings (PSUs) of the central/ state governments, focusing on vertical growth, relaxing floor space index norms etc.
  • Rationalising regulatory complexities about housing projects.

• Sustained public expenditure on the social sector.
  • The health sector public spending should match the mandated target of 2.5% of the GDP under the National Health Policy 2017.
  • The education sector spending has been stagnant over the last five years. Increased spending in the sector is required to make education affordable, inclusive, and accessible. In addition, a more decentralised approach to financing can be explored.

Related Links:

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Renewable Energy Infrastructure	Digital Infrastructure
Housing Sector in India	Industrial Infrastructure
Investment	Growth and Employment
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