India
A group of working women suddenly rich after winning the lottery – some could barely afford the ticket
A small stand sells lottery tickets in India. (icon image)
Creative Touch Imaging Ltd/NurPhoto
by Eugene Epp
With their work, they hardly earn enough money to live. But thanks to their lottery victory, eleven Indian women suddenly become rich and want to continue working.
Group of Indian working women: These women became rich overnight by winning the lottery
Eleven Indian women can hope for a big lottery win. The group from the state of Kerala raised the colossal sum of 100 million rupees, reports the BBC, the equivalent of 1.1 million euros.
This victory is a sensation for the women, especially because they have not yet been on a bed of roses financially. On the contrary: they work hard physically and collect non-biodegradable waste in the neighborhood for little money. Such worries should now be a thing of the past. The women only learned of their luck a day after the draw. “We never imagined making so much money,” one told the BBC.
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Continue to work despite sudden wealth? So the lottery winners plan
The women have been avid lottery players for a long time and meet regularly to buy a ticket as a group and try their luck. They have won smaller sums before, this time it worked with a really big jackpot. The lottery ticket costs 250 rupees, which is the daily wage of a worker. Some were not even able to raise enough money to pay for their share of the lottery ticket, but the others contributed more.
Indian women say the money they receive for their work is barely enough to live on. Most of them have taken out loans, for example to enable their children to study. Some have lost their husbands or their homes, others are worried about the future because their husbands are unemployed or their children are sick. With their share of the big win, everyone can now build a much more comfortable life for themselves.
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This is what Indian workers are left with after winning the lottery
After deduction of taxes, the jackpot still amounts to 63 million rupees (690,000 euros). Each winner’s share is more than 700 times what they earn in a month. With this, they could hang up their job – but the lucky ones don’t think about it. The day after they learned of their victory, everyone went back to work on time. “We’ve decided one thing,” one of the wives told the BBC: “We’re not going to quit this job because it’s this community that made us rich.”
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Note: This article was first published on Stern.de
