Shopping fete: plea to revert to earlier practice

The pro-Communist Party of India (Marxist) Kerala State Vyapari Vyavasayi Samithi has urged the government to make the ‘scratch and win prizes’ scheme connected with the Grant Kerala Shopping festival “transparent.”

In a statement on Monday, the organisation said that prizes won by shoppers on scratching coupons should be distributed then and there at the shops concerned. This was the practice during the Grant Kerala Shopping Festivals of the previous two years.

The shoppers this year were being asked to collect the prizes from designated dealers. Needless to say, this would discourage many shoppers because of the trouble involved, the statement said.