Sanitation Sector Workers in Kerala Win $1.2 Million Lottery Jackpot and Continue Working

This is why they sometimes associate to buy a lottery ticket.

Lottery is largely illegal in many Indian states, but the Kerala government itself runs a very popular scheme – private lotteries are banned in the state.

“Once we won a prize pool of Rs 1,000 and shared it,” says MP Radha, who usually buys the tickets for the group.

Last month, the group decided to buy a 250 rupee ticket for the monsoon lottery (lotteries are held for special occasions, like festivals).

Kuttimalu, 72, says she was initially sad when Radha raised money because she didn’t have enough money.

“Then Cherumanil Baby (another band member) told me she had 25 rupees and was ready to lend me half for the ticket,” she told the BBC.

The two women therefore paid 12.5 rupees each for their share of the ticket, while the other nine women paid 25 rupees each.

“We had agreed that we would have an equal share if we won something,” says Ms. Kuttimalu. “We did not expect to earn such a sum of money!

The women only learned they had won a day after the draw, when one of them asked her husband to check the results.

“It’s the fourth time we’ve bought a ticket for the jackpot,” says Ms. Radha, “it’s the fourth time we’ve been lucky!

Ms Baby, 62, says she can’t believe the band hit the jackpot.

“Luck was never on my side,” she says. Her house was washed away by the devastating floods that hit Kerala in 2018. She now plans to build a house and pay off her debts.

Other women in the group also have similar stories to share.

K Bindu, 50, lost her husband last year to kidney failure. The family did not have the means to finance his transplant.

“He was buying lottery tickets with the money we kept for dialysis,” she says. “He left us without having finished building our house. Now I have to finish it”.

Ms. Bindu wants to spend the money on her 15-year-old daughter’s education, so that she can one day find a good job.

Lakshmi, 49, says the night before they won the lottery, her family was worried about her future. Her husband, a construction worker, was struggling to find work due to heavy rains in the state.

The couple are relieved to be able to spend the money on their daughter’s education.

Leela, 56, worried about how she was going to pay for her daughter’s surgery. “I had already borrowed money for his wedding by taking out a loan on my house,” she explains.

After paying government taxes, the group will receive 63 million rupees ($766,000). Ms. Baby and Ms. Kuttimalu will equally share their share of 6.3 million rupees ($76,600), while the others will receive 6.3 million rupees each.

Apart from waste collection, women are also involved in constructing public toilets and installing equipment for waste disposal, says KT Balabhaskaran, director of Suchitwa Mission, the agency that coordinates these services in the entire state.

On Friday, the day after their life-changing victory, the 11 women returned to the agency’s office as usual to resume their work.

“We decided on one thing,” says Ms. Leela. “We will not quit this job because it is this collective that has brought us prosperity.”