Southern States - Kerala-Thiruvananthapuram   

Online lottery to be privatised

By Our Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM June 25. The Government will accord sanction to private companies to start online lottery in the State. Tenders will be floated at the national level for the purpose, the Minister for Finance, K. Sankaranarayanan, has said.

Replying to questions in the Assembly today, Mr. Sankaranarayanan said that all lotteries would be under the Department of Finance itself. The Government was expecting a profit of Rs.100 crores in this regard. It was for the companies to decide whether they should employ the existing agents of paper lottery. The Government was considering the proposal to levy sales tax for online lottery, the Minister told Thampanoor Ravi, V. Chenthamarakshan, A.K. Balan, T.N. Prathapan, M.V. Jayarajan, P. Jayarajan and K. Radhakrishnan.

The Government was concerned about the plight of paper lottery agents and in order to make it more attractive, more numbers would be launched and the prize money would be enhanced. Chaithanya weekly lottery for Rs. 10 with a first prize of Rs. 20 lakhs has been planned. The sale of Onam bumper with a first prize of Rs.1 crore would begin on August 7. The spurt of online lottery has affected the sale of paper lottery. No welfare fund has been planned for the agents. Instant lottery would be banned. The prize money dues of State lottery till April had been cleared. The Aiswarya lottery had fetched Rs. 5 crores to the Chief Minister's relief fund, he said.

The Government has not taken any decision on levying user charges as part of the economic reforms, Mr. Sankaranarayanan told M.V. Jayarajan, Saju Paul, P. Jayarajan, T.K. Devakumar, T.K. Balan and P.K. Sreemathy. There is no link between the proposals of the Eleventh Finance Commission and the conditions laid by the Asian Development Bank, the Minister told the Leader of the Opposition, V.S. Achuthanandan. The economic reforms of the Central Government had not been implemented in any sector in the State, he said.

The R.C. Chaudhari report on restructuring of public sector undertakings was not the final word. The Government had no plan to cut the salary and pension. Talks with the Twelfth Finance Commission would be held on July 16, he said.

The Minister for Revenue, K.M. Mani, told M. Murali, V. Balaram and Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan that there was no plan to declare a moratorium on agriculture loans. The Government would request the Centre to waive the agriculture loans but there was no hope that the request would be accepted, he said.

Mr. Sankaranarayanan said in a written reply that the Fiscal Responsibility Bill would be presented in the current session itself.

The Minister for Irrigation, T.M. Jacob, said that no policy decision had been taken on the hand-washing scheme.

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