PUBG is not just an android game. It has become a phenomenon for millions of avid gamers across India. But this deeply cherished game has created widespread turmoil in the lives of kids and teenagers. Hence, a stringent action was on the cards to restrict the growth of its hypnotic popularity.
On Tuesday, the government of Gujarat had asked the district authorities to exercise a prohibition on the online multiplayer game PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, popularly called PUBG. The Gujarat State Commission for Protection of Child Rights has recommended the state primary education department to ban the students from playing PUBG. The circular was issued after the demand raised by a students body in Jammu and Kashmir for banning the PUBG Mobile in the state, citing it as the reason for the failure of students in their exams.
The circular issued by the Government would instruct the District Primary Education Officers in taking appropriate steps in implementing a ban on the game in all the primary schools. The ban is held essential since children were increasingly addicted to playing the game and their academic results were getting hampered. However, we are not yet informed of which version of PUBG will be banned but we all speculate the mobile version would be prohibited and the console or PC versions of PUBG would prevail.
According to Jagruti Pandya, chairperson of the Gujarat child rights body, ‘The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has even demanded a ban on the game across the country.’
The recent reports also suggest that the NCPCR had issued an official letter to all the states and even advised for the ban on the game. All the states should work collaboratively towards banning the game since it is coming with a lot of adverse effects in the minds of the students. The kids and teenagers are unable to concentrate on their studies since the game is highly addictive. The strategic move by the Gujarat Government is the first step towards restricting young students to delve into the addictive world of game playing. However, Tencent Games, PUBG Mobile’s publisher, is yet to comment on the same.
Earlier this month, PUBG was brutally held accountable for the depressing exam results recorded in the state of Jammu and Kashmir by a student body, referred to as the Jammu and Kashmir Students Association. Even the honourable governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Satya Pal Naik, was requested to ban the game on an immediate basis. According to them, PUBG mobile acts like a drug for the students, and they get wholly immersed while playing them. The game had almost clocked 200 million downloads in Play Store.