Rajasthan government forms committee to decide on banning online games
"We have formed a health committee which will look into the issue and decide if some games can be banned. In fact, this committee shall also look into the issue of students going into depression in coaching centres and shall recommend necessary action."
The Rajasthan government has formed a committee to analyse if some mobile online games should be banned in the state as two students died as a result of obsessively playing the games.
Speaking to IANS, state Education Minister Govind Singh Dotasara said, "The state government has taken notice of these incidents where two young children have died in two months while playing online games.
"We have formed a health committee which will look into the issue and decide if some games can be banned. In fact, this committee shall also look into the issue of students going into depression in coaching centres and shall recommend necessary action."
To a query, if the Rajasthan government can follow in Gujarat's footsteps which banned PUBG, another addictive online game, he said, "It depends on the report this committee shall give. We will act according to the suggestions given by them. The committee comprises psychologists, educationists and others who shall take a note of these issues," he added.
On Tuesday, a 12-year-old class VI student named Kushal hanged himself in his bathroom while wearing a 'mangalsutra' and bangles as a part of 'TikTok' challenge.
He wrapped himself with a metal chain around his neck after wearing mangalsutra and bangles and then hanged himself to the ceiling of bathroom late at night.
The hapless father blamed the TikTok mobile app and said his child could have lived longer had it not been for the online game.
Meanwhile, TikTok has also issued a statement in this regard saying "we would like to confirm that there is no such hashtag challenge or activity that TikTok is promoting on its app. TikTok in no way endorses, promotes or encourages its users to engage in any behaviour that might cause harm to oneself or anyone else either via challenges or content published."
Last month, a 16-year-old-boy Furqan Qureshi from Nasirabad, died of cardiac arrest in Neemuch while playing PUBG.
Qureshi was a student of Kendriya Vidyalaya. He played PUBG from Sunday evening till Monday morning, while shouting "blast, blast" and then reported pain in his chest.
Thereafter, he fell unconscious and later died in hospital.