Why a flower farmer cannot join the cashless economy, a year after note ban

Traders say farmers still want them to pay cash because the amount is usually too small

Keshu Singh Patel, 56, was nowhere to be seen at Indore’s flower market on 7 November, 364 days after the government’s decision to invalidate Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. Repeated calls to his cell phone by this reporter were answered with the message: “The number you are dialling is switched off.”

On the morning of November 8, 2017, IndiaSpend found Patel plucking marigold flowers on his farm in Mirjapur, near Indore, the commercial capital of Madhya Pradesh. “The phone isn’t working since the past 20 days,” said Patel. “It can’t be repaired and we don’t have the money to buy