Traditional fishing competitions are more like a kind of hobby and not a form of gambling, Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Kyrmen Shylla said today.
Meghalaya has different local sports, like archery, on which betting has been legalised. Similarly, a huge amount of money is also spent on fishing competitions.
Last year the state was gripped by anti-gambling fever after the government had proposed to set up casinos on the Meghalaya-Assam border.
All the while, however, gambling on archery has carried on regardless. Fishing competitions also include things like lucky draws, so that is perhaps why the tag of gambling has been attached to it, Shylla said.
Revenue from lucky draws should be taxed so that it contributes to the state’s revenues, he added.
“People doing lucky draws are earning, so they shouldn’t mind paying to the state government and whatever they are doing should be done legally,” the minister said.
