I acknowledge your concern, but also wish to point out that the emphasis/tone is slightly misdirected [fn]
India certainly has a long way to go on this front. It feels very reminiscent of the US circa the gilded age roughly a century ago (Eg: look up worker safety in manufacturing, or fire safety scandals in NYC from back then). I’m sure Europe had a similar story. A society that is experiencing real and somewhat sustained growth for the first time is going to learn some hard lessons through the process, and then be forced into improvements to prevent the ugly side-effects. But the growth engine must first get going, before what seems like “overheads” can be paid from the surplus — and it likely will take a few decades. But you’d be surprised at the extent to which culture can change in a couple of generations (and how many bedrock cultural behaviors are relatively young).
[fn] This is crucial for learning the right lessons, and inspiring the right response. It is certainly a solvable problem, it’s important to look at history to understand how other societies solved the problem after similar growth pangs.
India certainly has a long way to go on this front. It feels very reminiscent of the US circa the gilded age roughly a century ago (Eg: look up worker safety in manufacturing, or fire safety scandals in NYC from back then). I’m sure Europe had a similar story. A society that is experiencing real and somewhat sustained growth for the first time is going to learn some hard lessons through the process, and then be forced into improvements to prevent the ugly side-effects. But the growth engine must first get going, before what seems like “overheads” can be paid from the surplus — and it likely will take a few decades. But you’d be surprised at the extent to which culture can change in a couple of generations (and how many bedrock cultural behaviors are relatively young).
[fn] This is crucial for learning the right lessons, and inspiring the right response. It is certainly a solvable problem, it’s important to look at history to understand how other societies solved the problem after similar growth pangs.