Indian gameshow's first $1m prize won by poor clerk

Sushil Kumar, 26, who earns $120 a month, correctly answers all the questions on India's version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire

A poor government clerk has become the first person to win $1m on an Indian gameshow.

Sushil Kumar's win on the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Kaun Banega Crorepati, has transformed him into a role model for millions who aspire to escape poverty and find a role in India's growing economy.

Kumar's win echoes the plot of the 2008 Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire, whose impoverished protagonist won the grand prize on the show.

Kumar and his wife of five months wept when the Indian film star Amitabh Bachchan, the show's host, handed them a check for 50m rupees (633,000) after the contestant answered all questions correctly.

"You have created history. Your grit and determination has made you come so far in this show," Bachchan said.

Before Kumar entered the quizshow, which was recorded on Tuesday and will air next week, he earned $120 a month as a government office worker and supplemented his income by working as a private tutor in the small town of Motihari in the eastern state of Bihar.

Kumar, 26, told viewers his family was so poor they were unable to afford a television set, forcing him to go to a neighbour's home to watch the quizshow. Watching him tick off correct answers, his neighbours persuaded him to try out for the show, he said.

The trip to the Mumbai studio where the show is recorded was his first journey by plane and his first visit to a big city, he said.

Kumar had clear, if modest, plans for the money.

He said he will use some to pay for a preparatory course so he can take India's tough civil service exam, which could lead to a secure and prestigious lifetime job.

He said he would buy a new home for his wife, pay off his parents' debts and give his brothers startup cash so they can set up businesses.

And he planned to build a library in Motihari so local chi! ldren wo uld have access to the books and knowledge he craved, he said.


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