Why Keralites dominate UAE raffle winners
They are big in number and are culture bound
With seemingly every other winner of huge raffles in the UAE an expat from Kerala, it begs the question — is it luck or numbers?
There are an estimated 1 million Keralites (people from the southern Indian state of Kerala) in the UAE — which is roughly 10 per cent of the population — and they have a strong culture of taking part in raffles, both back home and in the UAE.
Perhaps these two factors, combined, explain why there seems to be an unusually high number of Keralite winners in UAE raffles.
Seven out of the 10 people who won the monthly mega prize of Abu Dhabi Big Ticket during the past year were Keralites. Also over the same period, at least eight Keralites were among the 27 winners in the Millennium Millionaire draw of the Dubai Duty Free.
Raffles organisers did not comment on the Keralite winning streak.
Why do many people from the South Indian state of Kerala win raffles in the UAE?
This is a question on everyone’s mind when the winners of the two most popular raffles are announced every month.
Of the 10 people who won the monthly mega prize (Dh5 million to Dh12 million) of Abu Dhabi Big Ticket during the past year, seven were from Kerala. When two monthly draws (in July and October) gave away Dh1 million each to 20 people (10 each month), at least five of the winners were from Kerala.
At least eight Keralites were among the 27 winners who bagged $1 million (Dh3.67 million) each in the Millennium Millionaire draw of the Dubai Duty Free during the past year.
Indians’ regular winning in these two lotteries is generally attributed to their number in the UAE. More than three million Indians constitute the largest expatriate community in the country. Although no official figures available, an estimated more than one million Keralites are the largest Indian community.
These figures may reinforce the assumption that a large number of Keralites buy the tickets although the organisers of the Big Ticket and Millennium Millionaire draw of the Dubai Duty Free have not commented on this trend. They did not respond to a request from Gulf News in this regard.
However, it is a known fact that Keralites have an inclination towards lotteries.
Kerala was the first state in India to set up a lottery department in 1967, aiming to generate non-tax revenue for the state from lottery ticket sales, while providing employment opportunities to people as agents and retail salespeople. The department released its first lottery ticket on November 1, 1967 with a Rs1 ticket carrying a first prize of Rs50,000 (Dh2,700) and the first draw took place after more than 60 days on January 26, 1968, according to the Directorate of Kerala State Lotteries.
Other states
Many other Indian states followed suit soon. Kerala’s lottery department that celebrated its golden jubilee in 2017 now rolls out seven weekly lotteries (one daily) and six annual bumper lotteries on festive occasions.
Around 35,000 registered agents and 100,000 retail salespeople across the state earn a livelihood through ticket sales, according to the directorate.
On an average 9.5 million tickets are sold a day across the state, while the bumper lotteries (six a year) sell an average of five million tickets each, according to a report published by The Hindu, a prominent English daily in India. Of the total revenue from ticket sales, 42 per cent goes to prize money for each draw, 32 per cent is paid as agent commissions, around five per cent for printing costs, and 20 per cent as profit to the government.
A lottery for charity, The Karunya lottery, launched in 2011, generates funds for patients who are unable to afford critical medical treatment. For this, the Karunya Benevolent Fund was launched and over Rs12 billion (Dh648.36 million) has been raised from ticket sales, said the report.
The senior journalist who wrote the report told Gulf News: “The lottery has become a part of Kerala’s culture.”
Lotteries became a part of popular culture within a few years after the launch in 1967 and the Malayalam film Lottery Ticket released in 1970 was then a box office hit, said K. Pradeep, a journalist in English newspapers in Kerala for 27 years.
“Films always reflect the popular culture,” he said. The film opened with a song announcing the sale of lottery tickets by a lottery agent and it was very popular for many years.
Pradeep said the ticket buyers are from all sections of the society. Many middle- and upper-class people also regularly buy tickets. “A government employee had a hat-trick win recently. I wrote about a person who has been collecting lottery tickets for 50 years — he was a central government employee!” he said.
However, critics say it is a lazy man’s game, causing dangerous addiction, Pradeep said. Still the lottery system survives because both government and people benefit from it. People buy the tickets because they trust the system run by the government, said the journalist.
Keralite winners in the UAE also said the same.
“I had been buying Abu Dhabi Big Tickets for a year [until he won], because I trusted it,” John Varughese, a driver in Dubai who won Dh12 million in April, told Gulf News.
“That’s why I continue to buy Abu Dhabi Big Tickets,” he said. He said he continues to work as a driver because he does not want to leave the land that brought him luck. “I will bring my family here from Kerala once a year and will continue with this job,” Varughese said.
Anil Varghese Theveril, who won Dh7 million in May, said he was sure that he would definitely win it one day. “I had immense faith in the system,” Theveril said.
I had been buying Abu Dhabi Big Tickets for a year, because I trusted it. That’s why I continue to buy Abu Dhabi Big Tickets. I will bring my family here from Kerala once a year and will continue with this job.” John Varughese | Driver