The biggest news in Kerala these days is the Bhutan Lottery Scam. The case is in the Supreme Court, and all the parties in the case, The Kerala Government, Indian Government, Bhutan Government and even the courts have all covered themselves with dishonour in this case, where a distributor by the name Martin has been buying politicians and cheating the Governments and the common man for a long time now. And in the bargain making hundreds of crores.
In the first place, why State Governments should run lottery is a mystery. That is not why Governments have been elected. Lottery is essentially collecting a small amount from millions of people and giving a million rupee to one individual, with a few consolation prize thrown in. You can even call it gambling, as it can be addictive, and it is - especially the one digit lotteries. I know of many workers who spend 1/3rd of their hard earned daily wages on lotteries in the hope of getting the first prize.
Running lotteries is not Governments business. And they should get out of it. The government argues that many under privileged people (most of the lottery ticket sellers are handicapped) make a living out of this. Fine. Government can allow private lotteries and regulate it strictly.
The trouble lies there. There is a nefarious side to the lottery business. It is used for money laundering. For every lottery ticket sold, governmnet has to be paid a hefty sum as sales tax. Most of the lottery kings use this as an excuse to show boosted sales figures, pay 1/3rd tax and thereby convert millions of rupees of black money to white. Then there is the still darker side. Fake lottery tickets are printed and distributed in millions which results in huge tax evasion.
And who benefits. Well, every week, a handful of individuals who win the first three prizes and the agents make some money, while crores of ticket buyers lose out. Government gets tax money, but has to pay a heavy price by way of giving a conduit for black money to be turned to white legally, and also allowing more black money to be generated through sale of fake tickets. And then there is the socio cultural problem of people getting addicted and throwing hard earned money in the hope of getting easy money one day.
Every which way you look at it, it is a zero sum game.
Let us get rid of this Laundry ........oops Lottery business.
