Advertisers chase KBC winner Sushil Kumar

Less than a week after Sushil Kumar's sensational win was aired, nearly half-a-dozen companies have approached him with endorsement offers for items ranging from shampoos to chocolates. HT reports.

Sushil Kumar's Rs 5-crore win on the quiz show Kaun Banega Crorepati had barely sunk in when the computer operator from Bihar found himself caught in another windfall.

Less than a week after Kumar's sensational win was aired, nearly half-a-dozen companies have approached him with endorsement offers for items ranging from shampoos to chocolates.

And that's not all. The Union ministry of rural development is reportedly trying to cash in on his newfound celebrity status by making him the poster boy of its flagship employment scheme, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.

The scheme guarantees 100 days employment in a year to every adult member of a rural family at an average pay of Rs 120 per day. Kumar was also employed under the MGNREGA and used to earn Rs 6,000 per month.

Minister for rural development Jairam Ramesh has reportedly sent a congratulatory note dated November 5. Kumar said, "The minister even called me to say the ministry was contemplating using my services for propagating the MGNREGA scheme. However, I am yet to receive any official letter in this regard."