“Every Diwali, I buy the ticket for Rs 500 from the lottery booth on Rahon road near my farm . This time, however, I sent my 13 year-old-son to get the ticket just a day before the festival. On November 2, I learnt that I’ve won the Rs 2.5-crore Punjab State Maa Lakshmi Diwali bumper lottery!” says an elated Amandeep. His wife and two children are also on cloud nine.
“I never won a paisa in seven years but I was sure I’ll strike it big someday,” he says.
Though he is yet to receive the amount, he says he has submitted the documents . “The government officials are supportive and have assured me of the amount soon,” he says.
Ask him how he plans to spend the money and he says he will expand his dairy farming business besides investing in the future of his children. “In these days of inflation, the more you save the better,” he says.
A Punjab lotteries department spokesperson says public response to buying lottery tickets has picked up over the years. The government sold 6.41 lakh lottery tickets worth Rs 500 each this Diwali, totalling Rs 32.05 crore and disbursed Rs 27 crore in prizes. “We hold draws six times in a year but we get the maximum response for the Diwali bumper. We have announced a New Year bumper in which two winners will get Rs 1.5 crore each,” the spokesperson says.
An Una-based painter and plumber, Sanjeev Kumar, has also won the Diwali bumper prize of Rs 2.5 crore.
Prasanta Patnaik