No plan on lifting ban on lottery ticket sales in TN: Minister

Chennai, July 26 (IANS) Tamil Nadu finance minister P.T.R. Palanivel Thiagarajan has attacked former chief minister K. Palaniswami for saying that the state government is not thinking about lifting the ban on lotteries to augment its coffers.The opposition AIADMK's Joint Coordinator Palaniswami recently issued a statement that people will oppose the DMK government if it allows sale of lottery in the state.Responding to that, Thiagarajan said Palaniswami can give any constructive ideas to improve the financial condition of the state instead of issuing an imaginative statement to sidetrack the government's good work.According to Thiagarajan, there was no thought or discussion on lifting the ban on lottery ticket sales in the state.He said the previous AIADMK government headed by Palaniswami had left the state finances in shambles and this will be brought out in a White Paper.Thiagarajan also said Palaniswami in a heartless manner didn't even sign the files till May 2021 for payment of compensation to families of policemen who died due to the coronavirus.It was only after M.K. Stalin became the chief minister, the files were signed and compensation was paid to the families of the dead policemen.
--IANS vj/skp/