The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Ban leaves lottery agents, vendors high and dry

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jan 26, 2005

Kerala

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Ban leaves lottery agents, vendors high and dry

By C. Maya

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, JAN. 25. The Government's sudden decision to ban all lotteries in the State, including tickets of the Government-run Kerala State Lotteries (KSL), has left lottery agents and sellers high and dry.

By evening on Tuesday, hundreds of lottery agents and sellers had gathered at East Fort in the city, to decide their further course of action. "We have been ringing up the Directorate of State Lotteries, but we are yet to get any clear answers because the officials themselves are not sure what is going to happen," a wholesale agent, Mohammed Rafi of Kairali Agencies, said.

Lottery agents are worried whether the prize money of earlier draws and agency bonuses would be blocked after this new turn of events. The Government had also announced that Tuesday's draw would be the last one. Many small-time lottery sellers rushed to their main agents in panic, wondering what to do with their unsold bundles of tickets.

"We do not know what the Government intends to do about it, but we are now taking back their unsold tickets in the hope that we will be reimbursed later. Many of them earn their daily wages through the ticket sales and we cannot leave them in the lurch," Mr. Rafi said.

Loss of livelihood

The immediate impact of the ban on lotteries would be on the three lakh-odd lottery agents and sellers, many of whom stand to lose their sole means of livelihood. As an agent pointed out, the lotteries ban is going to affect many elderly citizens, physically challenged persons and many children from poor families engaged in lottery sales. Many children are able to continue their studies only because of the money they are able to earn through lottery sales. The KSL has less than 100 registered agents and the remaining persons involved in the trade do not figure in the official statistics at all because they are part of the vast network of sub-agents and those employed by them. "I have employed about 60 people, including women, as my staff. If the ban comes into effect, I will no longer be able to employ them," a prominent wholesale lottery trader at East Fort pointed out.

Unsold tickets

The major lottery agents are worried about the huge losses they fear they will incur by way of unsold tickets. Many have tickets worth lakhs, of KSL and other State's lotteries, in their shops.

Several organisations like the Kerala NGO Union and Kerala NGO Sangh have come out against the Government for imposing a total ban on lotteries.

The State Government has only itself to blame for not presenting its case properly before the court, they have pointed out.

The organisations also alleged that there had all along been a nexus between politicians and the on-line lottery operators' lobby and that the officials who took strong steps to curb fake lotteries were persecuted by the Government.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Kerala

News Update

Stories in this Section

Ban leaves lottery agents, vendors high and dry

`Concept plan unsuitable for Sabarimala'

Foreigner held

11 parallel service vehicles seized

61 lottery agents held

Poet remembered

Around the City

In Thiruvananthapuram Today

CAMPUS NOTES