24 Year Old Wins 12 Crore Lottery In Kerala

Winning a lottery is something everyone has dreamt of at least once in their lifetime. The value of jackpots offered by various lotteries is often life-changing. Classified as a `game of chance´, lotteries have been popular since medieval times. Records show that lottery tickets were sold to the public, and draws were held as long back as the 15th century in towns like Ghent, Utrecht, and Bruges. The Dutch state lottery of Staatsloterij is the oldest running lottery, since 1726.

Lotteries are famous across the world, and in the majority of countries, lotteries are sponsored and administered by the governments. Several lotteries like PowerBall, MegaMillions and El Gordo regularly offer millions of dollars as jackpot prize, and in some cases, the amount could run into more than a billion dollars. With the option of participating in lotteries by buying tickets online, the popularity of lotteries has grown exponentially.

Historically, lotteries have been banned in India. But post-independence, states got more autonomy with regard to framing laws concerning lotteries, and they have been gradually legalized in many Indian states. As of today, 13 Indian states have legalized lotteries, allowing individuals in those states to try their luck at winning a jackpot.

Kerala was the first Indian state to legalize lotteries in 1967, putting an end to various illegal operations. As the Kerala model succeeded in generating substantial revenues in the form of taxes, many other states followed with their own lotteries.

Today, Kerala state lottery conducts daily draws, giving the players a chance to win a jackpot of up to 80 lakh rupees daily. In addition to the daily lotteries, Kerala also conducts `bumper´ lotteries 6 times a year, where the jackpots are substantially bigger. The biggest among the bumper lotteries is the Thiruvonam Lottery, whose draws are held in September every year.

This year’s Thiruvonam Lottery carried the biggest jackpot prize in its history, at 12 crore rupees. The tickets were in high demand this year thanks to the lockdowns due to the CoViD pandemic and almost 44.10 lakh tickets were sold. The draw was held at 2 pm on 20th September at Thiruvananthapuram. The jackpot-winning ticket belonged to 24-year-old Anandu Vijayan, a native of Idukki, and currently employed at a temple administration office in Kochi.

Belonging to a poor family, Anandu’s father Vijayan works as a daily-wage painter. His mother is employed at a textile shop. He has two siblings, with a brother doing a part-time job after graduation, and a sister who lost her job due to the CoViD pandemic.

The family of 5 lives in a small crumbling home on a remote hill with no motorable road. With this windfall win, the family now looks forward to moving into a new house, which has access to safe drinking water and a proper road.

Anandu’s father too had bought a ticket for the same lottery but did not win any prize. Previously Anandu had once won a prize worth 5000 rupees. Not a habitual lottery player, he had not in his wildest dreams imagined that he stood a chance of winning the jackpot prize. It was only on the evening of the drawing day that he checked his ticket. At first, he could not believe his luck and took several hours before the win gradually sunk in.

After deducting taxes and the 10% commission of the dealer, Anandu is set to get richer by 7.56 crore rupees once the jackpot is deposited in his account. Apart from buying a new house, Anandu plans to pursue post-graduation, a plan which he was forced to drop due to his family’s financial situation.