Cash Crunch In Maharashtra: Patients Turned Away, Cotton Farmers Hit

The story is the same across India. Long lines outside bank branches and ATMs to withdraw money and deposit old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes after the government’s demonetisation move. But the magnitude of impact varies. In urban India, debit and credit cards and digital payments have come to the rescue of many cash-stranded citizens. But in parts of rural India a functioning bank branch is a luxury. This India survives on cash - to buy food, seeds for farming, agricultural supplies, to receive daily wages and survive.

BloombergQuint’s Shubhangi Daga sets out on a journey through Maharashtra to bring you stories of how its least privileged citizens are transitioning to a cashless India.

Rs 2,000 Notes Too Big To Handle

The newly printed Rs 2,000 currency notes are fast losing their novelty factor. Almost all residents of Badnera village in Amravati said the bigger denomination currency note is a hassle rather than a convenience at a time when Rs 100 notes are hard to come by.

It’s getting increasingly tough to procure food and other necessities with the bigger denomination notes, many villagers said.

Patients Refused Treatment In Amravati

The government may have allowed patients to pay for medical services in old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes, but that message has yet to reach some private dispensaries in rural Maharashtra. Residents of Jalu village in Amravati said local pharmacies and medical centres are not treating patients who don't have new currency notes.

A Pit Stop At Aurangabad

In Gangapur village in Aurangabad district, farmers predominantly grow cotton and maize. The prices of both these crops have seen a sharp dip ever since the government announced the demonetisation scheme.

First Stop: Nashik District

About 165 kilometres from Mumbai, in Maharashtra’s Nashik district, farmers and construction labourers are feeling the pinch of the Centre’s decision to withdraw old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes from circulation.

The lack of new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 currency notes and the acute scarcity of Rs 100 currency notes means work has come to a standstill in villages and small towns enroute Mumbai to Nashik.

Many said it’s getting tougher to put food on the table as they are running out of food grain, others said they must wait till new currency notes come in to get their salaries, while still others wondered how they could be expected to stand in queue outside bank branches and still show up for work.

Also Read: Cashless In Rural Uttar Pradesh