PUBG Banned In Elementary Schools In Gujarat For 'Adverse-Effects On Studies'

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) is currently a favorite game in the world, including India. However, playing too much of this game can cause serious impacts on people's lives, especially children. Because of this, on Tuesday, a circular was issued by the Gujarat government directing district authorities to ban this game.

According to Gujarat child rights committee's chairperson, Jagruti Pandya, NCPCR (National Commission for Protection of Child Rights) proposed to ban the game on a national scale. The notice of the prohibition was made by the government just days after the petitions were submitted. Pandya said:

The circular has given clear and direct directions to teachers and staff at the elementary schools in the district. The ban is extremely necessary because the children in the area are spending more and more time playing PUBG without paying attention to their school work. This has resulted in bad exam results. We are still not sure which version is mentioned by the government in Gujarat, but perhaps they will issue a ban on PUBG Mobile version instead of the PC or game console version.

Currently, Tencent Games, PUBG Mobile's publisher, has yet to deliver an official statement.

In early January, Jammu and Kashmir's Student Association claimed that PUBG was the primary cause for the poor test result of students in grades 10 and 12 in the state. They called on Satya Pal Naik, Jammu and Kashmir Governor, to issue a ban on PUBG immediately. The game is more likely to be addictive than drugs.

PUBG Mobile was released in early last year, but it quickly became a cultural phenomenon, attracting millions of players around the world. At the end of 2018, it officially achieved globally 200 million downloads.