Woman rubber tapper in Kerala hits jackpot: wins Rs 1 cr prize

Lady luck has smiled on an impoverished young woman rubber tapper from a village in the district, who has won the Kerala state lottery prize worth Rs one crore.
Nabeesa won the 11th 'Stree Shakti' lottery, which has Rs one crore as prize money.
The windfall has come as a huge relief to her family, comprising her sick mother and a younger sister, who lost one of her legs in an accident some years ago, as they were finding it difficult to make ends meet.
Nabeesa, hailing from Kilimanoor in Thiruvananthapuram district, said she used to frequently purchase lottery tickets and had won a prize money of Rs 5,000 twice and Rs 1,000 several times.

She said she wished to purchase a few cents of land and build a small house using the prize money, besides setting up a stationery shop for her younger sister.
The lottery was started by the previous Congress-led UDF government early this year for raising resources to help underprivileged women.

The weekly lottery scheme was renamed 'Stree Sakthi' (woman power) and ticket price increased from Rs 40 to Rs 50.
The amount collected from sale of the lottery tickets will be used by the government for welfare and rehabilitation of women, particularly the aged and the indisposed.
The government plans to mobilise Rs 100 crore in a year from the scheme.