Goa plans on-line lottery

| 14 October 2002 17:22 IST

Following other state governments and private players, Goa is also now planning to float on-line lotteries.

"Goa has a name which can click", states chief minister Manohar Parrikar.

To prove a point, he points out at a Maharashtra-based firm that has even started gutkha in the name of Goa.

While details of the lottery are yet to be finalised, the cabinet today decided to float tenders within a fortnight.

Parrikar claims he is personally not in favour of such kind of business, but feels the long-pending proposal could be now implemented with such on-line lotteries started everywhere in the country.

To provide moralistic justification to the kind of gambling activity, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition government however has also decided to utilise the revenue only for social cause like health or education.

The state expects net annual revenue of around Rs 25 crore from the whole exercise.

The state has also not decided whether to have seven different weekly lotteries, to make it a daily affair. "We will decide it, depending on the response to the tenders", he said.

A decision in this regard has been pending since 2000.

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