The legendary Indian cricketer, Kapil Dev, recently inaugurated the country’s first online sports betting center in Gangtok. Though betting is prohibited all over India, the state government of Sikkim has issued betting licenses to three companies on the condition that all activities of betting will be permitted within the state only and will be under surveillance.
It was a bit shocking for all of us. In fact, questions popped up in our mind like – How can government legalize betting? What convinced them? How will it work? and many more. After all, recently a 39- year old from Madhya Pradesh hanged himself from a tree near Parliament after he lost his money while betting on cricket matches. And now the state government of Sikkim is legalizing it. Bravo!
Kapil Dev too refused to bet on one of the ongoing football games as he is not into betting at all. But on repeated requests from the organizers of Golden Gaming International Private Limited, he did it.
The director of Gaming International Private Limited, Manoj Sethi said, “The Sikkim venture is first such initiative in the country and we hope that other states also follow our unique model and legalize online sports betting too.”
Let’s see how this venture helps Sikkim and whether the suicide rates will increase or decrease with this act.
Author: Palak Bhardwaj
