“I have instructed that the necessary laws be brought quickly; the state government is moving rapidly to ban Blue Whale in Gujarat,” said Rupani after distributing free NAMO E-Tab. Express photo
On a day when Gujarat government began distributing free tablets to help digitalise primary education in state-run schools, chief minister Vijay Rupani said the government will go to the extent of issuing an ordinance to ban the Blue Whale Challenge. “From this school in Shahpur, I want to tell the people of the state that Blue Whale is turning to be dangerous. People are committing suicides. The state government is firm to ban Blue Whale and stop it. I have instructed that the necessary laws be brought quickly; the state government is moving rapidly to ban Blue Whale in Gujarat,” said Rupani after distributing free NAMO E-Tab (New Avenues of Modern Education through Tablets) under the “Gyankunj Project” on Tuesday.
“While digitalising, my children should not take the wrong path…The way we have freed youths from the addiction of hookah bars by banning it, the state government is resolved to ban Blue Whale…. I have issued directions and in the coming days strong laws will be framed to help save people,” he added.
Later while speaking to media persons the chief minister said if necessary, his government will consider bringing in an ordinance to impose the ban. “Directions have been issued to the home department and the chief secretary. This needs to be stopped,” he said adding that the concerned department will look into the legal and other procedures to enforce the ban.
The state government is firm to ban Blue Whale and stop it. Express photo
“We are also thinking of improving awareness,” Rupani added. The chief minister said this after a youth from Banaskantha district committed suicide in Ahmedabad a couple of days ago. In a live video post on the social media, the victim stated that he was upset with his boring life and had downloaded Blue Whale. Police, however, denied that the suicide was due to the Blue Whale Challenge.
Earlier in his speech, the chief minister said that under the Gyankunj Project, e-classes will be held in 1609 state government-run primary schools for Grade seven and eight. These classes will be equipped with projectors, smart-boards, infrared cameras, laptops, speakers and wi-fi routers.
“Today these kind of classes are being launched in 508 schools,” Rupani said during his speech. “Instead of reading books, the children like to watch TV. They will sit there even for five hours, be it ‘Saas bhi kabhi bahu thi’, ‘Tarak Mehta ka Ulta Chasma’ or other soaps or news because television is an audio-visual medium. So the state government decided that in order to ensure that children take interest in studies, the blackboards have been turned into screens where history and geography can be seen,” he said adding that the students are able to remember better through the audio-visual medium. “This will help them embrace digitalisation,” he added.
