(a) whether the Government have received any representations and memoranda from the Members of Parliament and social organisations from 1.1.1996, till date, for the prohibition of lottery, gambling and horse-racing;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) the action taken thereon; and
(d) the problems and the annual revenue loss likely to be suffered by the Government if these are banned in the country?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS (I.D. SWAMI)
(a) & (b): On may 17, 1997, a Memorandum signed by 124 Members of Parliament, cutting across party lines, was submitted to the Prime Minister. The Memorandum demanded that an immediate ban be placed on the lottery trade by the Central Government, as lottery was nothing but another form of gambling. It was further demanded in the Memorandum that, as a first step, single digit lottery should be immediately banned by way of an executive order and then an appropriate legislation should be brought to ban any other form of lottery. Apart from this, some more letters were also received from Members of Parliament, some in favour of ban and some against the ban on lotteries.
(c): The Lotteries (Regulation) Act, 1998, which regulates the conduct of lotteries under entry 40 of List-I-Union List of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India and stipulates certain conditions, besides banning the Single digit/pre-announced number lotteries, has been enacted. Subsequently, the Lotteries (Prohibition) Bill, 1999, which seeks to prohibit the organization, conduct and promotion of lotteries under Entry 40 of List-I-Union List of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India, has been introduced in Rajya Sabha.
Gambling and Horce-Racing fall under entry 34 of List-II (State List) of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution. The Legislatures of States have exclusive power to make laws for such State or any part thereof with respect to any of the matters enumerated in List-II-State List in the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India.
(d) The revenue to the State Governments from the sale of lottery tickets is not very substantial. During 1999-2000 the revenue from lotteries to the big state like Tamil Nadu was only Rs.27.75 crore and as low as Rs.1.98 crore in case of Goa. This can be compensated through other sources by the State Governments. We have not received reports of any problem being faced by those states which have banned the lotteries. Other states are not likely therefore to face problems if they ban lotteries.