Govt fails to withdraw Lotteries ban bill
The Government on Tuesday failed to withdraw a 10-year-old bill that would have banned lotteries in the country yielding to opposition pressure.
The Lotteries (Prohibition) Bill was introduced by the then Home Minister L K Advani in the Rajya Sabha in 1999. Deputy Leader of BJP in RS S S Ahluwalia said the Government should first bring out a comprehensive bill for strengthening the regulation to check mafia in the lotteries business.
Government tried to press for the withdrawal by citing the recommendations of the Standing Committees but had to finally give up as the opposition did not budge from its position. "If the Opposition is not agreeing with it (withdrawal of the Bill), then we are not going for it," Minister for State for Home Ajay Maken said.
Alhuwalia said lotteries are affecting poor people and if the bill is withdrawn, then there will have to be a bill in its place with strong regulatory mechanism to stop malpractices in the business. Prakash Javadekar (BJP) said the government wants to withdraw the bill by taking the name of the Parliamentary standing committee. But the standing committee had never recommended for the withdrawal.
"It had only said that the bill be re-looked," he said, adding the standing committee had talked about building political consensus for the lotteries prohibition bill. He accused that there was pressure from lottery mafia behind the move to withdraw the bill.
