India: 11 women pool money to buy lottery ticket in Kerala, win Rs 10 crore
In the month of June, eleven ladies who worked as sanitation workers in the state of Kerala in southern India pooled their money to purchase a lottery ticket. The news that they had won the jackpot of one hundred million rupees ($1.2 million; £946,685) made them extremely happy last week.
The women are members of a group that is responsible for collecting non-biodegradable rubbish from residences in the town of Parappanangadi, which is located in the Malappuram district of Kerala. They typically receive approximately 250 rupees per day, which comes from the monthly payments made by the homes. Occasionally, they also earn a piece of the money made by the local corporation from selling the rubbish that they sort and collect from households.
They are quite honest when they remark that the money is not sufficient to cover all of their expenses. The majority of the women have either borrowed money or taken out loans in order to pay for additional obligations, including the education of their children.
Because of this, they would periodically pool their resources in order to purchase a lottery ticket.
Although private lotteries are not permitted within the borders of Kerala, the state’s government oversees a lottery that is quite successful despite the fact that it is against the law in most of India’s states.
“Once, we won a 1,000-rupee prize and shared it,” recalls MP Radha, who typically buys tickets for the group. Radha is the one who organizes the group’s attendance at the event.
The gathering made the decision about a month ago to purchase a ticket for a monsoon bumper prize lottery that cost 250 rupees (bumper prize lotteries are typically held on important occasions such as holidays).
Kuttimalu, who is 72 years old, claims that she originally felt depressed while Radha was collecting contributions since she did not have sufficient funds.
She explains to the media that “then Cherumannil Baby,” who is also a member of the group, informed her that she had 25 rupees and was prepared to lend her half of it so that she could pay for the ticket.
“We agreed that we would get an equal share if we won anything,” Ms. Kuttimalu explains. “We were not anticipating winning such a substantial amount of money!”
The women didn’t find out they had won until one of them requested her husband to check the results the following day, which was one day after the drawing.
“This is the fourth time that we bought a ticket for the bumper prize,” Ms. Radha explains. “This must be our lucky number four!”
Ms Baby, who is 62 years old, claims that she can’t believe the gang has won the lottery.
She states, “Luck was never on my side” throughout her life. In 2018, Kerala was struck by a series of disastrous floods, which ultimately resulted in the destruction of her home. She is already making preparations to construct a home and settle all of her financial obligations.
There are additional women in the group that have experiences that are comparable to share as well.
K Bindu, who is now 50 years old, lost her spouse to kidney failure a year ago. Due to financial constraints, family was not able to pay for the transplant.
“He used to buy lottery tickets with the money we kept for dialysis,” she says. “We kept it in case he needed it.” “He abandoned us before he could complete putting the finishing touches on our house. I have no choice except to finish it right away.”
Ms Bindu plans to invest the money in her daughter, who will be 15 this year so that she can acquire a good job in the future.
Lakshmi, who is 49 years old, reports that her family was fretting about their plight up until the very last night before they won the jackpot. Because of the recent storms that hit the state, her husband, who works in construction, was having a hard time finding work.
The parents feel a sense of relief now that they are able to put the money into their daughter’s education.
Leela, who was 56 years old at the time, had been concerned about how she would pay for her daughter’s operation. “I had already taken out a loan against my house in order to get the money that I needed for her wedding,” she recalls.
The organization will be given 63 million Indian rupees once all taxes have been paid. While Ms Baby and Ms Kuttimalu will split their part of the 6.3 million rupees equally between the two of them, the remaining individuals will each receive 6.3 million rupees.
According to KT Balabhaskaran, director of the Suchitwa Mission, the organization that organizes these activities across the state, the women are not only responsible for collecting rubbish but they are also involved in the construction of public restrooms and the installation of facilities for the disposal of waste.
Ms. Leela explains, “We came to one conclusion.” “Since it was the teamwork at this company that led to our success, we have no intention of quitting our jobs.”