Garbage collectors win Dhs4.47m lottery in Indian state of Kerala

Ashraf Padanna, Correspondent

A group of women garbage collectors in Parappanangadi town of Malappuram district in Kerala still can’t believe they have become millionaires overnight.

They pooled money to buy a Rs250 (Dhs11.17) Monsoon Bumper lottery ticket carrying prize money of Rs100 million (Dhs4.47m), but Kutti Malu could not contribute.

Then her close friend in the group Baby found a solution and divided their share into two equal portions — each contributing Rs12.50.

"I was disappointed when (Mundupalathil) Radha (their leader) asked me if I was willing to join as I had no money with me,” Malu, 72, told the Gulf Today.

"I was not keeping well and joined work the day before after a long absence. Then Baby told me she has Rs25 with her and she was willing to loan me half of it.”

Radha, 49, said that’s okay and the two will get an equal share if the group wins. They agreed though they didn’t expect to hit the jackpot.

Now when the bumper lottery winners share the prize money, the two will divide their part of Rs63 million equally while others will get Rs6.3 million each.

They are members of Harithakarma Sena, the women’s group collecting non-biodegradable waste from households.

They make a living out of Rs250 they get on average on the days they work and occasionally the local governments share the proceeds from selling the reusable waste. That was hardly enough to make ends meet.

All have taken loans from banks by pledging whatever they had for various needs like educating children, marrying off their daughters and meeting medical expenses.

"We used to pool in money to take tickets and once we had won a Rs1,000 price and shared it similarly,” Radha told the Gulf Today.

"This is the fourth time we bought a bumper ticket (big prize lotteries during special occasions like festivals). We are fourth time lucky.”
Radha is their leader who keeps the tickets and tracks them.

Immediately after she realised she had a paper lottery worth Rs100 million (before taxes), she rushed to their bank and ensured its safe custody there.

"I still can’t believe that we have hit the jackpot. Luck never favoured me,” Baby, 62, who’ll share their portion of the payout with Malu, told the Gulf Today.

"I had my home washed away in the 2018 deluge. Now I need to build a roof over my head and pay off my debts. People whom I owe money have started coming.”

Amid celebrations that began yesterday and their routine work, Lakshmi, 49, has just started calculating her plans.