- Thousands of children in Bihar are severely affected by malnutrition, causing many to become paralysed
- Kumar's winning questions will be aired on November 2
An impoverished government clerk from a desolate region of eastern India has become the first person ever to win $1million on an Indian game show.
Sushil Kumar, whose family is so poor they couldn't afford a television set, claimed the staggering win on the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.
Mr Kumar's win echoes the plot of the 2008 Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire, whose impoverished protagonist, played by Dev Patel, wins the grand prize on the show.
Big winner: Sushil Kumar (left) was haned a cheque for 50m rupees from the show's host Amitabh Bachchan (right)
The 26-year-old and his wife of five months wept when Indian movie legend Amitabh Bachchan, the show's host, handed them a cheque for 50 million rupees (just over $1 million) after the contestant gave all the right answers on the show.
'You have created history. Your grit and determination has made you come so far in this show,' Bachchan said.
Before Kumar went on the program, which was filmed on Tuesday and will air next week, he was a $120-a-month 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 told viewers his family was too poor to have a television, forcing him to go to a neighbour's home to watch the quiz show.
Kumar's win echoes film Slumdog Millionaire, whose impoverished protagonist played by Dev Patel (pictured left) won the grand prize
Love interest: Dev Patel (left) stars as Jamal in the film, while Freida Pinto (right) stars as Latika in Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire
Watching him tick off correct answer after correct answer, his neighbours persuaded him to try out for the show, he said.
The trip to the Mumbai studio where the show is taped was his first ride in a 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 will also buy a new home for his wife, pay off his parents' debts and give his brothers start-up cash so they can set up small businesses.
And he plans to build a library in Motihari so the children of his village will have access to the books and knowledge he so desperately craved, he said.
The win has as transformed Mr Kumar into a role model for millions of aspiring youngsters yearning to escape from lives of poverty and find a role in India's burgeoning economy.
Humble beginnings: Sushil Kumar is from the small town of Motihari in the eastern state of Bihar, India (pictured)
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