Prescribed as the antidote for all problems related to vehicular pollution, Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificates have been an obsession with the Indian government for a decade now. This is happening at a time when other countries are criticising the effectiveness of only checking tailpipes of vehicles for controlling pollution. Instead, auto manufacturers are being made increasingly accountable for the lifelong emissions of vehicles they produce. Hand-in-glove with the auto industry, the Indian government is completely oblivious to what is happening elsewhere in the world. The buck stops at the vehicle users, who they blame for not understanding the need to maintain vehicles. It is time to bring to book the real culprits, says Anumita Roychoudhury