Thiruvananthapuram: Finance minister K.M. Mani has said that there was no question of the UDF government allowing the lottery mafia to enter the state to run their gambling business.
“On behalf of the government, I assure the people of the state, particularly poor patients and lottery workers, that Kerala Lottery which is aimed at helping the needy using a portion of the lottery proceeds, will continue without any problem,” Mr Mani said in a statement here on Friday.
The state government would not allow anything that would hamper the Kerala Lottery that was helping the government in mobilising funds for various welfare schemes, including those for financing the treatment of patients from financially backward families, he said.
As per the Supreme Court order, other state lotteries could function in the state only after they submitted applications as per law. The court gave this order on the plea made by agents of other state lotteries that the state government should be asked to collect taxes from them.
Lottery is a central subject and a single law, the Lotteries Regulation Act passed in 1998, is operational for the whole country. The Last LDF government had failed to effectively control the lottery mafia which operated illegally in the state, Mr Mani said.
