Nava Kerala Lottery: A ticket that needs lots of luck
KOCHI: The Nava Kerala Lottery, envisaged as a helping hand to the state’s ‘Rebuild Kerala’ campaign, seems to have failed to strike a chord with the people. Though the government’s plan was to sell 90 lakh tickets in a month’s time to raise Rs 225 crore, the Kerala State Lotteries Department (KSLD) could only sell nearly 16 lakh tickets till Monday.
the Nava Kerala Lottery tickets
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The bumper ticket is priced at Rs 250. While the first prize, Rs 1 lakh, will be given away to 90 persons, as many as 1,00,800 people will pocket Rs 5,000 each. So the government has to set aside Rs 6 crore for the prize alone.
Until now, the department has raised only Rs 40 crore. “We’ll fall short of the target as we’ve only a week left to sell the tickets,” said an officer with the KSLD, which has printed 30 lakh tickets. The department finds itself in a spot despite the lottery agents, political, cultural and voluntary organisations, residents’ associations, colleges, libraries, Kudumbashree units and individuals coming out to help the government by selling tickets. Agents say the lacklustre response was due to ‘poor’ prize value. “Compared to other bumper tickets, the prize amount is very less.
Hence only a few people are buying tickets. Most of those who come forward are the ones who want to contribute to the Rebuild Kerala campaign,” said Palakkad-based lottery agent Premkumar. When contacted, State Lotteries Directorate’s Deputy Director (Sales) S G Sharma sai d the department could sell only 15.68 lakh tickets so far. “This is not a profit-making tool. The government has launched the sale as a part of its commitment towards flood victims. People should come forward to buy the tickets as it’ll be their additional contribution to the Rebuild Kerala campaign,” said Sharma. Finance Minister and Lotteries Department director were unavailable for comment.