karmakerala.com news

Kerala, the state that boasts 100% literacy and one of the best health care facilities in India depends on some of the not so conventional means to fill its coffers! Its two main  revenue makers include the Beverages Corporation and the Department of Lotteries, which contribute substantially to the State revenue.

Kerala is the birth place of lottery and it was introduced for the first time in the 1960 s by the first communist Government of Kerala under the chief ministership of the late Marxist leader, Shri EMS Namboodirippad. Today many other states in India have adapted the system of lotteries. Next time, when you bump against any lottery agent with neatly stacked lottery tickets with them, think about the silent role they play in sourcing funds for the State’s kitty. Lottery also offers direct and indirect employment to  lakhs of illiterate and deprived sections of the society including handicapped and  widows, who eke out  a living by selling these ‘fortune bills’

It is estimated that there are over 35,000 authorised agents and 100,000 retail lottery sellers in Kerala extending throughout the State. The department of lotteries disburses  lakhs of prizes a week, through its six bumper and weekly lotteries with interesting names like Kairali, Periyar, Bhagya dhara and more!Lottery has become an addictive passion for many Keralites just like his evening pint of Rum after a hard day’s work! Going by the facts and figures, lottery mania fails to subside as people risk a major portion of their earnings on these fortune carrying bills.  Dreaming big is fine as long as it never becomes an addiction that could make you a pauper!