Amend Lotteries Act to save Kerala: VS

Principal Correspondent


Chief Minister V. S. Achuthanandan on Sunday said the Union Government should come forward to amend the Lotteries Act to save Kerala from the lottery plunder being indulged by the inter-State lottery mafia.

Delivering his Independence Day address after reviewing the ceremonial parade at the Central stadium here, Mr. Achuthanandan said the inter-State lottery mafia was indulging in gambling under the guise of selling approved Bhutan and Sikkim lotteries. “Those running the inter-State lotteries are taking more money from Kerala every year than the State’s annual plan’.

The increasing consumption of liquor among the people of the state and the obsession for the lotteries has already affected the society and many have fallen into the trap. Common man is falling prey to this social evil and is spending all his hard earned money. Campaigns and awareness programmes are needed to check it. The social evils like dowry are an insult to the State.

The Chief Minister said corruption in the administration could not be wiped out even after six decades of becoming a republic. Despite the intervention of judiciary and public, corruption could not be checked.

The faith in the democratic institutions will be affected if corruption is not checked.