10-04-2017, 09:36 PM
The Department is headed by the Director of State Lotteries and assisted by an Additional Director and a Joint Director. The Directorate has 3 Deputy Directors and four District lottery officers (HQ) in Administrative position. Among others, the Directorate also comprises of a Finance officer, Publicity Officer, Accounts Officer (IA) and two Senior Auditors,. The Finance Officer is appointed on deputation from the Government Secretariat and the Senior Auditors are appointed on deputation from the Accountant General's Office.The Publicity Officer is appointed on deputation from the Public Relations Department, Government Secretariat.
The Sales and Prize sections are functioning under the supervision of the two Deputy Directors. Another Deputy Director controls the printing related matters. The Budget, and Internal Audit Wing in the Directorate are functioning under the supervision of the Finance Officer, Publicity Section is functioning under the supervision of the Publicity Officer. The post of Accounts Officer (Welfare), at the Directorate has been deployed to the Agents and Sellers Welfare Fund on it's reorganization and has been redesignated as the State Welfare Officer who is in charge of Agents Welfare Fund, which looks into matters relating to agent s welfare and allied matters. One Regional Deputy Directorate at Ernakulam, 14 District Lottery Offices and three Taluk Lottery offices also come under the Department.
The Directorate controls the printing and distribution of tickets of all lotteries. At present tickets including Bumper are printed at the Govt Press Mannanthala, Kerala Books and Publications Society Kakkanad, Kochi and C-apt (Kerala State Centre for Advanced Printing and Training). Sale of lottery tickets, Agency registration, renewal, sanctioning of prize money and disbursement of prizes up to Rs.1 Lakh are carried out by the District Lottery offices. General administration, distribution of major prizes above Rs. 1 lakh and granting of agencies outside Kerala, overall control etc., are the main functions of the Lotteries Directorate at Thiruvananthapuram. Sale of tickets and payment of prize money are performed through the Taluk Lottery offices also. The Department is under the administrative control of the Department of Taxes, Kerala. There are 465 employees working under this department.
Kerala, the Gods own country, added another first to its cap in 1967, when a lottery department was setup for the first time in India. The right idea came from the then Finance Minister of Kerala, the late Shri. P. K. Kunju Sahib, who envisaged revenue from sale of lotteries as a major source of non-tax revenue for the state, at the same time providing a stable income source for the poor and the common. Within no time, the department has grown throughout the length and breadth of Kerala by contributing to the needful.
It had the late Shri. P. K. Seydu Mohammed as its first Director, in fact its founder Director. The department which came into existence on September 1, 1967, released its first lottery ticket on November 1, the same year. The ticket valued at Re. 1 carried first prize money of Rs. 50,000. The first draw took place after more than 60 days i.e., on January 26.
With its humble beginning, the department was to set an example for the entire country. Soon many other states jumped into the bandwagon by starting their own lotteries. However, Kerala State Lotteries remains atop all of them, thanks to its credibility, transparency and reliability and its effective measures for agents welfare. Starting with just one lottery.
The department now rolls out seven weekly lotteries viz. Pratheeksha, Dhanasree, Win-Win, Akshaya, Bhagyanidhi, Karunya and Pournami lotteries and six bumper lotteries. The department, which started with a few personnel, now has around 465 employees under its Directorate located at Vikas Bhavan at Thiruvananthapuram, 14 District Offices and a Regional Deputy Directorate at Ernakulam. More over three Taluk Lottery Offices are also functioning one each at Punalur in Kollam District, Kattappana in Idukki District and Thamarassery in Kozhikkode District. The department which was initially under the Department of Finance was later brought under the Taxes Department.