The article is titled 'My Carbon': An approach for inclusive and sustainable cities' and was written by Mridul Kaushik, Mission Director, Smart Cities Mission, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs of India.

The subject of the piece is how to convince people to adopt "personal carbon allowance programs" given that such schemes have so far been largely unsuccessful.

However, Kaushik notes that improvements in tracking and surveillance technology are helping to overcome "political resistance" against such programs.

Writing that "COVID-19 was the test of social responsibility," Kaushik commends how, "A huge number of unimaginable restrictions for public health were adopted by billions of citizens across the world."

"There were numerous examples globally of maintaining social distancing, wearing masks, mass vaccinations and acceptance of contact-tracing applications for public health, which demonstrated the core of individual social responsibility," he adds.