Boredom killer: Shashi Panja distributes indoor game kits among children

Kolkata: In a unique move Dr Shashi Panja, minister of state for Women and Child Development and Social Welfare, distributed indoor game kits among children on Monday to ward off the boredom that is creeping in due to the lockdown.

Dr Panja distributed ludo boards among the children along with ration that included rice, pulses, edible oil and potato in areas that are situated within Shyampukur Assembly constituency in North Kolkata.

She went to the houses and presented ludo boards to children, who were visibly happy to receive them. As most of them do not know how to play the game, the minister sat and taught them the basics.

"It is very difficult to manage the children who have been forced to stay indoors. Sometimes they are becoming agitated and are spending most of the time playing games on cell phones. Ludo is a good family game which can be played by both children and adults and as a matter of fact, the adults are showing more interest," she said.

Welcoming the move of Dr Panja, Dr Debashis Roy, a psychiatrist, said: "It is surely a welcome move as it has become a tough job to keep the children engaged. As most of the children do not read books, they are busy playing games on the mobile phone most of the time. Games like ludo, bagatelle and book cricket, which are very interesting, should be reintroduced among children," he suggested.

Ratnottama Sen, social psychologist, said that as people are forced to remain indoors it is the duty of the parents to get their children introduced to old games to replace the ill habit of playing games on cell phones.

"I welcome the move of the minister and more kits of children's games should be introduced for their revival. These games will keep the children busy and are quite interesting," she added.