11 cleaners struck a $1.2 million jackpot after pooling the little money they had to buy a $3 lottery ticket

• A group of sanitation workers in India won $1.2 million from a state lottery on Wednesday.
• The 11 women pooled their money to buy a single, $3 lottery ticket in June, local media reported.

A group of 11 cleaners in India won $1.2 million from their state's lottery on Wednesday after pooling the little money they had to buy a single ticket.

Before the windfall, the 11 women earned so little that some had to borrow cash to chip in for the $3 ticket they bought together in June, Indian news agency Press Trust of India reported.

"We have purchased lottery tickets before by pooling money. But this is the first time we have won a mega prize," MP Radha, the woman who buys the tickets for the group, told PTI.

At their day jobs, the women clear non-biodegradable waste from houses in Parappanangadi, a town in India's southern state of Kerala, the BBC reported.

Each cleaner typically earns around $3 per day, as well as some additional profits from selling the waste they collect, per the outlet.

The wages aren't enough for the women to support their families, and some had to take out loans to pay for their children's education, according to the outlet.

Two of the women paid 15 cents each for their contribution to the ticket, while the other nine put in 30 cents each to make up for the shortfall, local outlet The News Minute reported.

Several members of the group have been down on their luck for decades. One woman had her house washed away by floods in 2018. Another lost her husband to kidney failure in 2022 when her family couldn't afford an organ transplant, per the BBC.

After taxes, the women will receive around $765,000, to be divided amongst them. Two of the women will take one-tenth of the share worth $76,500, while the other nine women will split the rest equally, according to the BBC.

A typical family of four needs around $843 per month to live in Kerala, according to cost of living aggregator LivingCost.

All of them plan to continue working at their sanitation jobs, they told The News Minute.

"We are the cleanest municipality in Malappuram, and we will continue to do the work to retain the status. Now, we want others here to win a lottery of their own," one of the women, who was not named, told the outlet.