Kerala Budget: Lottery winners to get financial training, FM announces
Individuals who win large sums of money in the lottery system will be provided with financial training on how to utilise the amount, the Kerala government announced during its Budget presentation on Friday, March 11. The Kerala government started the state lotteries programme in 1967, and the Lotteries Department is currently in its 55th year.
In the first complete budget of the second Pinarayi Vijayan-led government, Finance Minister KN Balagopal presented the first ever paperless budget in the state. During the Budget session, the minister said that a special cell will be set up to take action against illegal practices such as written lotteries. “Individuals who receive large sums of money as prizes through lotteries will be trained by the department in financial management in collaboration with financial experts on how to utilise this amount”, Balagopal said. The minister also added that a sales tracking system will be implemented, along with the timely completion of the second version update of the software used by the Lotteries Department. He also said that lottery tickets will be incorporated with better security features soon.
The lotteries were stopped during the COVID-19 pandemic and the minister informed that it will be restored and steps will be taken to bring the structure and activities of lotteries back to the pre-COVID-19 stage.
As per the Economic Review 2020 by the Kerala State Planning Board, revenue from lotteries constitutes 81.32% of the total non-tax revenue of the state. In 2020, Kerala was selling 90 lakh lottery tickets per day, before the pandemic hit. Revenue from lotteries is a major source of non-tax revenue for Kerala.