THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The State Government will introduce a one-time lottery in the State to mobilise funds for sports development.

The lottery will be launched on November 14, Children's Day, said Minister for Sports M. Vijayakumar at a press conference here on Sunday. He said the State Government hoped to mobilise Rs. 400 crore through the lottery for creating a corpus for developing sports infrastructure.

The Minister said the budgetary allocation of Rs. 7.5 crore for sports was inadequate, and it was one reason for the Sports Ministry to find an alternative source of funds.

The Minister said the super bumper lottery would be run during November and December and draw of lots would be held on January 15. The final decision regarding the price of the ticket and prize money would be decided after consultation with the Finance Department and Directorate of Sports.

The Minister said the State Government would not run any other lottery when the sports lottery was in force. He had held preliminary discussions with officials of sports and youth clubs, grama panchayats, municipalities and corporations on the lottery, and their response was encouraging.

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