Thiruvananthapuram: Minister Thomas Isaac said that the lottery department has made arrangements to resume the lottery sale on May 18 and to begin the draw on June 1. The lottery sector has been in a state of paralysis since March 23. As part of that, eight draws have been postponed. 95 draws have been canceled, including those scheduled for June.
Tens of thousands of ordinary workers are dependent on the lottery sector. The government had already given them Rs 1,000 as emergency relief. They have also received other public assistance. Even though it is slow, they can be relieved by resuming the lottery business.
Lottery dealers are also facing the same crisis as all the small enterprises in Kerala. There are two problems. For one, there is no money to buy a new ticket. Two, during the lockdown, many of the tickets become useless that they could not be sold. The govt assured that will resolve the entire problem related to lottery selling.
Lottery sellers buy tickets in their cash. Sellers are finding it difficult to buy tickets at this time of the year. Lottery traders who are members of the welfare fund will be loaned up to a maximum of 100 tickets. Before Onam, traders have to pay back the money as in installments. In the case of repayment, the amount will be deducted from the Onam Bonus issued by the Welfare Fund Board.
Non-used tickets are sent to the Lottery Office they will be replaced and the new ticket will be issued for the same draw. The eight-ticket draw is scheduled to take place in two weekly draws starting June 1. The draw will take place on Monday and Thursday. Ticket sales are expected to start on May 18 if conditions improve.
Sales must be done in full compliance with the COVID protocol. Mask and a bottle of sanitizer will be provided free of charge for the vendor by the Welfare Fund Board. Adjusting to two a week, sellers will have up to four days to sell tickets for each draw.
According to the existing discount slab, those who take more than 10,000 tickets will be given 25% off the highest discount rate. Reducing the number of tickets is a key requirement in this area. Agents who book tickets above 8400 will be offered a high discount rate.
The income from the sale of the lottery goes to the health sector. “We have decided to resume the lottery draw in this view,” Minister said.
