Good question. I have no one answer. But I see many paper writing factories in India. Such papers have no research or academic value, as also their authors.
I think the majority doing Ph.D alone, But as he have the major certificate he should contribute to the society from his specialty. for example he can contribute from an association in his subject of research. In addition He should contribute to improve the level of his society not only by Ph.D but also from social activity, this allows its integration into society.
Many published papers could be contributing to society, not always in the near future. There are scientific papers that their results are applicable in the future, and are not immediately visible. The more rapid science contribution to society is visible in the area of patents and technological innovations that connect scientific research with R&D productions.
One of the main duties of any professor is teaching. Teaching not supported by research cannot match the highest standards when it comes to postgraduate education. In my humble opinion, professors who teach and do serious research contribute in the best possible way to society in general and to academia in particular.
I aspire to be professor in the future. The number of publications per se is not an anomaly. Each published paper has to be assessed on its own merits. I know some professors whose work is of high quality and even their teaching is up-to-date. However, am informed that some professors (supervisors) take full credit of articles/papers published by their students. Not sure how this happens, but it would be unfair.