CRPF jawans barred from playing PUBG as game is "affecting their performance"

A report has come out suggesting that addiction to smartphone game Player Unknown's Battegrounds or PUBG is affecting our security forces too. Considering this, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel have been barred from playing the game.

According to a News18 report, a senior CRPF officer posted in New Delhi said that the commanding officers were told to implement the ban since PUBG "addiction had affected jawans’ operational capabilities".

The younger troopers reportedly have grown addicted to the game and as a result, have stopped interacting and socialising with fellow jawans. It additionally led to sleep deprivation since those addicted to the game would stay up longer to play the game; this, in turn, led to reduced physical activity.

The order that was issued earlier this month mentions that the troopers are getting addicted to it and it is “getting them engaged to a great extent which is affecting their ops performance, aggressive and attitudinal issues".

So, with immediate effect, all deputy inspector-generals will have to ensure that no jawan in their respective units has the game installed in their smartphones. To make sure that this is followed, company commanders have been told to randomly inspect the smartphones of the jawans.

One must note here, this is not the first time the game has been banned in India. In January, Gujarat officially banned students from playing PUBG in school. After this, Rajkot district administration banned people from playing the game in public spaces. Ten people were also arrested for not following the orders in Rajkot.

Ahmedabad police too had implemented a similar ban so that students can better focus on their studies during the exam season. This was lifted later, after exams were over.

Also, India is not the only country where the game is scorned upon by many. Iraq and Nepal governments have banned its respective citizens from playing PUBG.