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Lottery ban: Minister gets threat letter
Published on Sat, Mar 31, 2007 at 03:14, Updated on Tue, Jun 19, 2007 at 10:17 in 
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New Delhi: Karnataka minister for Small Savings and Lottery, Ramachandra Gowda on Friday said that the decision to ban lottery and arrack had put the government in a fix with even ministers receiving anonymous letters threatening of dire consequences.
Earlier, in what comes as a measure to contain the rising social distress in the state, the Karnataka government banned the sale of arrack (country liquor) and lottery in the state.
Intervening the Budget discussion in the Legislative Council, he pointed out that he has received an anonymous letter issuing a threat for imposing ban on lottery, in which Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy had also been named.
To this BJP legislator Mukhyamantri Chandru said even he had been receiving such threats ever since JDS-BJP coalition government came to power.
The Chair then directed the government to take serious note of the issue.
The All India Federation of Gaming and Allied Industries, earlier, went on a march in Bangalore in an effort to urge the Karnataka government to reconsider its decision to ban all forms of lotteries from April 1.
The Federation submitted a memorandum, which appealed to the government to regulate the lottery instead of putting a complete ban on it.
There is strong support for such a move in rural areas, especially among women, who are the worst sufferers. The powerful arrack lobby, which contributes Rs 3,000 crore as revenue to the government, tried to stall the decision.
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minsiter B S Yediyurappa, who presented the budget, also announced that the state would be a ''Lottery Free Zone'' from April 1.
The ban on lotteries in the state would result in a loss of Rs 250 crore to the exchequer.
(With agency inputs)
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