Lotteries have had a checkered history in India. State governments alternately support them for raising revenues and at other times vociferously criticize them.
Should lotteries be banned or restricted?
Is it morally correct to “protect” people from doing what they want to do–lotteries are after all something that people voluntarily indulge in. Besides, are such bans effective?
Let us look at the first aspect. Are we to be treated as adults or are we all to be considered children who need to be protected from ourselves by our know-all, all-moral, do-good, paragons of virtues–our politicians?
It should be up to me to decide what I do with my life and with my money. That’s what liberty is all about. You may have a right to persuade me, reason with me, or otherwise convince me without the use of force, so that I may see the folly of my ways. More, I cannot grant you. Let me risk my fortune if I wish to. Gambling hurts no one except perhaps the gambler or his immediate family. It is for them to decide what is good, not anyone else.
It was Voltaire who said “I don’t approve of what you say, but I shall defend till death your right to say it.” This is what freedom is all about. Thus, to people like Swami Agnivesh who oppose all forms of gambling, including lotteries–we ask, “Swamiji, please desist from imposing your views on us. We respect your right not to buy lotteries, likewise could you respect our right to buy lottery tickets or engage in other forms of gambling?”
Secondly, how effective are restrictions on lotteries? Presume for a moment that it is morally correct to protect us from ourselves. Take it for granted that our politicians have our interests at heart and are in a position to save us from harm, which we can bring upon ourselves. Under such circumstances, would we be able to justify the ban or restriction on lotteries? We think not.
The reason: such bans do not work. They create problems and consequences far worse than the ills they seek to cure. Legal restrictions merely push the activity underground and into the hands of the underworld, where it is the Mafia and not law-abiding businessmen who rule the roost. Taxes will not be collected. Money will not go for development activities. Instead, it will go to building an even more powerful Mafia.
Look at ‘matka’. It is the number game that people choose as an option to lottery, be it a single digit or another. Ban lotteries and people will go to ‘matka’ in Delhi, or if not, to some other form of gambling. Whom are we trying to fool?
People, law abiding citizens, gamble on cricket matches, outcome of elections, just as they place bets on their favorite racehorses. Crores of rupees change hands. Newspapers carry odds, available with bookies, as to who is the favourite party or the likely candidate to win at election time–like they do for horse races.
Gambling is in big league today. It is perhaps amongst the five biggest turnover businesses in India. Lotteries are merely a form of gambling. Banning or restricting them serves no purpose other than gaining cheap publicity for our ‘saintly’ politicians.
By imposing a ban, there will be no advertisements to let people know which lottery offers the best prizes–the best odds. Has anyone seen advertisements for 'matka'? What will be lost is the openness, the freedom. And the result will be corruption, Mafia style killings to collect debts or enforce obligations, and lack of quality and facilities that are available to us when the activity is out in the open.
Let us look abroad. Lottery has become the choice means of painlessly raising taxes. In the U.S., states use lottery money for funding cultural, educational and charitable activities, as does the government in Britain.
So, what do we do? Be hypocrites–ban and become corrupt or be open and straightforward? The answer should be clear. Instead of restricting this popular activity, let us go one step further. Privatize and deregulate lotteries–the government is as inefficient in running them as it is in running airlines, trains or post offices–and let the government get its revenue by taxing it.
(The author is Executive Director of Casino Everest, and a member of the Board of Advisors of Liberty Institute.)
Copyright 1999, Liberty Institute, New Delhi
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