Luck favours who need it most; 11 Kerala women civic workers win Rs 10-crore jackpot

Sometimes, luck favours those who need it most. Fortune finally smiled on 11 Kerala women civic workers from the state-run Kudumbashree programme, who were struggling to make ends meet, when they won a whopping ₹10 crore bumper jackpot.

The mega prize was announced by the Kerala State Lottery Department.

What is amazing is that each of the 11 women had pooled in ₹25, with two women among them managing to scrape together ₹12.5, to raise the money to buy the monsoon bumper jackpot ticket.

The 11 women members of Haritha Karma Sena (HKS), the green army of Kudumbashree,  won ₹10 crore, as they bagged the first prize of the monsoon bumper lottery.

These women work hard to make a living by collecting non-biodegradable waste from homes and establishments. They belong to the 57-member HKS group in the Parappanangadi municipality in Malappuram in Kozhikode.

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The HKS members who won the bumper lottery were P Parvathy, K Leela, MP Radha, M Sheeja, K Chandrika, E Bindu, Karthiyayini, K Shobha, C Baby, C Kuttymalu and P Lakshmi. Baby and Kuttymalu had put in ₹12.5 each as their share because they did not have enough money to put down ₹25.

Now, both will probably pocket a cool ₹45 lakhs each, when the ₹10 crore is divided equally among the 11 women!

These women were down on their luck and were struggling hard facing severe financial hardships. In fact, the Parappanangadi municipal chairman Usman A told the media that that luck has favoured the “most-deserving team” as these sincere women were struggling to make ends meet.

The prize winners told the media that though they won this lottery, they will continue working in their jobs since that was brought them together. They had actually given up hope of ever winning the lottery since this was the fourth time they were buying the ticket.

Most of the winners said they will use the money to build houses, pay for their children’s education and pay off their debts. Media reports said the women have presented the winning ticket to the Parappanangadi branch of Punjab National Bank.