No ban on lottery

The government has so far not decided to ban lottery in the state, said Finance Minister Thomas Isaac. The minister said this in the wake of the opinion sought by the centre on banning lottery. The state delayed the decision of reducing the sales tax as they waited the centre to reduce the price of petroleum products, said the minister. The minister said this when they were criticized for not taking immediate action to reduce the overburden of the people by reducing the sales tax but instead observed a hartal.