New Delhi, Dec 3 (IANS): Congress leader H. Vasanthakumar urged the government in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday to ban online games like 'PUBG', 'Blue Whale' and 'Rummy', citing their negative side effects on the mental and physical development of children.

"I urge the government to ban online games such as Blue Whale, PUBG and Rummy. PUBG was launched in 2017 and it has generated a huge global following across PCs, console cells and mobile platforms," said Kumar, an MP from Kanyakumari, during Zero Hour.

By last December, the lawmaker said 'PUBG' alone had 200 billion mobile downloads and noted that a few cities in the country have already banned the game citing concerns that it was making the player more violent and distracting students from their studies.

Referring to the complaints of many parents, the MP said these games have produced a lot of negative effects on the mental and physical health of children and that they have no value in the children's studies.

The MP mentioned that these games lead to minimum physical activity by children which further leads to numerous health issues such as obesity, cardiac problems and psychological problems.

"Ban the online games, for the future of India."

For instance, the MP said, a self destructive game named 'Blue Shark' has led to hundreds of suicides when the gamer reaches the final after successfully completing all levels.