No one is willing to bet on a lottery ticket. And luck hasfailed to smile on the ubiquitous lottery vendor.
Once a thriving business, selling of lottery tickets has nowbecome laborious that fetches poor income.
Low commission rate and lack of public interest has madelottery selling business an unattractive proposition.
In the technological age, online lottery has become a rageamongst the youngsters, which is further pushing printed lottery to oblivion.
Sagun Rama Kakodkar has been selling lotteries for the last40 years near the Kadamba bus stand in Panjim. From Ponda he travels to Panjimand is at his spot dot at 8.30 every morning. When he prepares to leave forhome in the evening, he has barely touched Rs 150 as his day’s earnings.
Sale of Provedoria lottery tickets earned decent revenue tothe State in the past. But that is changing, as lottery business has lost itscharm and no longer attracts customers.
Making a living out of lottery business is near toimpossible.
“We are unwelcomed wherever we go,” complains 58-year-oldDinanath Borkar, a lottery vendor in Margao who had embraced this business 36years ago.
Today he is old and sick and cannot walk around the city, ashe used to do during his younger days, to woo customers. The 15 percent commissionhe earns by selling lotteries is too less to fend him and his family. He has tosell 1000 tickets a week to earn Rs 150 as commission.
But there are still few customers, especially from the lowermiddle class and daily wage workers who, in the hope of becoming a millionaireovernight, religiously buy a lottery ticket.
The lottery commission has remained unchanged for years. Itis 16 percent for Goa lotteries and 15 percent for Maharashtra. “With no extramoney in my pocket, I have to buy my tickets on credit,” Borkar said.
The 15 plus vendors who buy tickets from the lottery agentsmake their payments every Tuesday. “Tuesday is our settlement day and we payback the collection to Provedoria -- Institute of Public Assistance andpurchase the weekly lot again,” said Dilip Mhapankar of Sahil Enterprises,Margao.
Mhapankar a lottery agent distributes lotteries from Goa andMaharashtra. While he has to collect tickets from Provedoria every weekpersonally, the lotteries from Maharashtra come by courier on daily basis. Hisoffice at Gandhi Market gets flooded with vendors who pick up their bundle by8.30 am.
The sale is brisk in the first three weeks of the month.Then it slows down.
The lottery vendors feel that government should considergiving them pension after they cross 60 years of age.
“We are serving Provedoria, a state government body. So likeother government servants we deserve a pension,” Borkar argues, as he isnearing 60.
Mhapankar is worried that his business may come to an abruptend, as eight of his lottery sellers are above the age of 60.
Not a single youngster comes forward to sell lotteries, asthere is not enough money in this business. The agents get 16 percentcommission of which they retain 1 percent for themselves and pass 15 percent tothe sellers of tickets.
There is hardly any facility worth its salt for the lotteryvendors. With no monetary incentives or identity badges, no concession fortravelling by public transport and no pension facility, lottery vendors plougha lonely furrow.
