Industries spawned by state failure

Industries spawned by state failure

Add air purification devices to the growing list of industries that have been spawned (वृद्धि होना/ विस्तार होना) by the failure of the state to perform its duties. We are all familiar with private security guards who proliferate (तादाद में बढ़ना/ संख्या में बढ़ना) at office buildings, residential colonies and commercial establishments.

Their ubiquitous (सार्वत्रिक/ सब जगह का) presence tells a tale of the state’s failure to provide law and order through regular law enforcement and policing.

Inverters and diesel power generation sets proliferate because power supply from the state-run or state regulated utility cannot be taken for granted.

When Singapore set out on its modernization journey, Lee Kuan Yew set one vital (महत्वपूर्ण) benchmark for himself.

Singaporeans should be able to drink water from the tap, as residents of developed countries could. This called for drinking water pipes and sewerage lines to stay forever apart, like East and West in Rudyard Kipling’s poem. Singapore crossed this milestone long ago.

In India, even today, the contents of the two kinds of pipeline networks commingle (मिलना/एक जगह आकर मिल जाना) every now and then. This has created an industry that supplies/cleanses water for drinking.

People happily pay for water tankers, bottled water, water filters and purifiers that deploy (असरदार तरीके से इस्तेमाल करना) reverse osmosis membranes on top of ultraviolet treatment, etc, but baulk (विघ्न/अवरोध करना) at the suggestion that they should pay the water utility a little more to finance investment in and upkeep (अनुरक्षण/रख-रखाव) of the distribution network. Now, steadily mounting pollution has elevated (उन्नत/ऊपर उठाया) several Indian cities to the top in the UN’s ranking of the world’s most polluted cities, when it comes to air quality.

Assorted (विभिन्न प्रकार के /चयनित) masks and air purifiers for the car and the home sell in large numbers. Private gyms and gym equipment will see brisk (तेजी से) business, as the morning constitutional turns toxic.

Hospitals, doctors and the pharma industry see revenue spikes (वृद्धि/ बढ़ाव) , as do crematoriums (शवदाहगृह) and funeral homes. A better, more functional state now promises to draw the shutters on entire businesses.

Should we just let the drift continue? Continued and deepening state failure could spawn yet more sunrise industries, so what if we cannot see the sun all too clearly these days.