Kolkata: The state government has earned Rs 223 crore in 2018-19, which is an all-time record, by selling tickets of state lottery. Following Chief Minister Mamata Banerjees intervention, the lucky draw is now held every day instead of the earlier system of holding it once in a week. Now, 368 lucky draws are held annually. There are around 362 draws held under Bangalakshmi, Bangashree Super, Bangabhumi categories. In addition to the usual weekly draws, six bumper draws are held during New Year, Holi, Bengali New Year, Durga Puja and Diwali taking the total to 368. A senior official of the Directorate of State Lotteries said earlier around 17 lakh tickets were used to be printed daily. Now, around 2.40 crore tickets are printed daily. In 2018-19 the income of state reached Rs 2,100 crore. The state government expenditure to pay money to the winners, the commission of the distributors and the lottery agency was Rs 1,887 crore. Thus the state government made a net profit of Rs 223 crore which is the highest ever. The price of daily tickets for three categories is Rs 6 while that of the bumper draws is Rs 20. As people want quick money–more and more people are buying tickets for the lucky draw organised by the state government. The results of the three categories are announced at 4 pm every day. The results are put up at the office of the directorate of the state lotteries on Ganesh Chandra Avenue at 4 pm. To maintain transparency the whole process is videoed and then put up in YouTube.

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