PUBG Is Dangerous For Children, Should Not Be Allowed In India -Commission for Protection of Child Rights

Established by an Act of Parliament, the Commission for Protection of Child Rights Act, 2005; The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) is a statutory body with the prime to protect, promote and defend child rights in the country. The Commission began operations on 5th March, 2007 and works under the aegis of Ministry of Women and Child Development, GoI. NCPCR emphasises the principle of universality and inviolability of child rights and recognises the tone of urgency in all the child related policies of the country.

In the name of security of state and public order:-

Recently the body is in the news for not being in favour of recommending games like PUBG Mobile relaunch in India. PUBG was among 118 Chinese mobile applications banned by the government in September this year. The government had said these apps “are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order”.

India accounts for a significant portion of PUBG MOBILE’s downloads and users. PUBG, which was earlier distributed in India by China’s Tencent Games, has sought permission from the government to relaunch in the country. . While PUBG Mobile India tries to navigate a relaunch in the country, India’s top child rights body has said that it will not be appropriate unless legislations are in place for such online games.

NCPCR Meeting:-

In a meeting called to discuss the proposal, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) chairperson Priyank Kanoongo “strongly recommended” against the relaunch of the mobile app in India until appropriate legislations are in place for such online games, the officials said.

When asked about it, Kanoongo said an internal meeting was held to discuss the matter.

“It was an internal meeting and prima facie, the NCPCR is not in favour of recommending such games in the country,” Kanoongo told PTI.

During the meeting, it was also pointed out that the game led to loss of many lives in the country, a senior official said. No response had been received from PUBG to queries sent by PTI on the matter till the time of filing this report.

Days after the government ban, PUBG had announced that Chinese company Tencent Games would no longer be authorised to distribute the PUBG MOBILE franchise in India.

However not just India, but PUBG is banned in China too despite the company being based out of China. According to a report by InsideSport, there are three reasons as to why most countries are deliberating on banning PUBG Mobile. These reasons include that PUBG Mobile is too addictive, PUBG Mobile does not care about its users’ health, thus not warning them about the ill-effects of the screen time, and that PUBG propagates violence.