Tags:
Journalism of Courage
K Narayanan
A lottery ticket seller in Kannur,Kerala
Age: 65
Routine: Sets off at 8 a.m. from his home in Valiyannoor in suburban Kannur and heads for the towns main bus stand. He spends his entire day here,walking in and out of buses,till about 7 p.m.,when the last bus to his village leaves the terminus. By 3 p.m. on a recent Thursday,he had only sold about 10 tickets.
K Narayanan shoves his way through passengers waiting at the busy bus stand in Kannur town,shouting hoarsely: Kerala Win-Win,Kerala Win-Win. Test your luck,only for Rs 20. A few lottery tickets spread out like a fan from between his fingers but his own luck seemed to be running out.
Narayanan is an agent for Win-Win lottery thats brought out by the Kerala governments Lotteries Department,the only lottery left after the state government changed the daily draws to a weekly one. In a state where the slogan,naale ane,naale ane tomorrows the draw,used to ring out from every town square,the recent lottery controversy has affected an estimated 1.30 lakh lottery agents.
The controversy began in July this year with the Opposition Congress alleging in the state assembly that the Left Front government had allowed the sale of two new lotteries. As a sequel to the row,the state government decided not to accept advance tax from the promoters of lotteries from outside the state. Megha Distributors,promoter of Bhutan lotteries,moved the Kerala High Court against the governments decision. Upholding the decision,the High Court said the state lottery has to reduce the number of draws to a weekly one. This forced the lotteries from outside the state to retreat from the market,hitting agents like Narayanan. The hearing is still on.
Its around noon on a Thursday morning and Narayanan hasnt had much luck. Before the lottery controversy,when there were draws on all seven days in a week,I used to sell 25 Kerala tickets a day. After the draw was reduced to once in a week,tickets are not moving, says Narayanan.
Around 8 every morning,he sets off from his home in Valiyannoor in suburban Kannur and heads for the towns main bus stand. He spends the day here,walking in and out of buses,till about 7 p.m.,when the last bus to his village leaves the bus terminus. Until five years ago,he used to work with a beedi rolling unit. But when the industry fell on bad times,this CPM sympathiser had no other option but to try his luck with lottery tickets.
An agent of Win-Win gets a commission of Rs 150 on every book of 25 tickets that he sells. Narayanan says he used to earn at least Rs 150 a day when the state lottery held daily draws but now,he barely sells half a bunch. Though Narayanan is only authorised to sell tickets of Kerala lotteries,like almost every other lottery seller,he used to sell tickets of Sikkim and Bhutan lotteries since they were more lucrative. If a ticket from another state hit the jackpot,the agent gets half the prize money. So we were all happy to sell Bhutan and Sikkim tickets. On the other hand,a winning Kerala lottery only gets us a 10 per cent commission, says Narayanan.
Around 3 p.m.,Narayanan boards a bus and drops tickets into the lap of passengers. He then revisits them to see if anyone has picked the ticket. There are days when some passengers buy the tickets,but the majority doesnt even touch it, he says,getting off the bus without selling any tickets. So far today,he has sold about 10 tickets. The naale ane,naale ane slogan created an impression that luck was just a few hours away. Then,tickets used to move like hot appams. Now that the draw has been reduced to once a week,sale picks up only on the previous day of the draw.
I cant keep a lottery ticket for many days. Since the Win-Win draw is on Wednesdays,I buy the ticket only on Tuesday, says Sathar,a passenger who refused to buy a ticket.
Narayanan does not know the lottery act,but has read about one Santiago Martin,who allegedly violated regulations which forced the government to regulate the business. When asked of the politics behind the controversy,Narayanan snaps: Both the CPM and the Congress are working against the interests of the lottery agents. The government must bring back lotteries from other states to the Kerala market. I am not seeking to make a windfall,this is only an attempt to make both ends meet.
