In Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister’s Constituency, Cash Rules Over Cards And Online Transactions

During campaigning for elections to Telangana Assembly, which the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) won with an absolute majority, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu claimed he was instrumental in developing Cyberabad.

Naidu was responding to criticism, particularly by TRS, that he likes to claim he has developed Hyderabad city. Speaking at his Telugu Desam Party (TDP) forum in Vizianagaram, the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister said: “I can proudly say I constructed Cyberabad. I toiled hard to create Cyberabad… I brought Microsoft, several other IT companies, International School of Business (ISB), Raheja Mindspace to Cyberabad…”

Given this statement by Naidu and the fact that Kuppam, the constituency he represents in the state assembly, is just around 125 km from India’s Information Technology capital, Bengaluru, expectations run high when someone visits Kuppam town.

Kuppam can be accessed from Bengaluru either through Kolar or Tamil Nadu’s Krishnagiri. The town is bordered by Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and it is no surprise to find the people here at ease while speaking Tamil, Kannada, or Hindi besides Telugu.

Kuppam constituency has been with the TDP since 1985 and the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister has been representing it since 1989. Naidu was the chief minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh from 1995 to 2004 and has been the first chief minister of divided Andhra Pradesh from 2014.

Given this background, people would expect Kuppam to be a well-developed region. But when you land there, the feeling is one of disappointment. When confronted, the people there tell you that all the development that has taken place in Kuppam has been done so in the last 10 years.

“We have a steel firm, a yarn company, a garment factory, a university, a medical college, and an engineering college in Kuppam. All these have come in the last few years,” grins a Tamil-speaking lady who runs a small tea shop in Kuppam. The lady had come from Vaniyambadi after her wedding to make Kuppam her home.

But there are more surprises in store at Kuppam. Despite the presence of these educational institutions and industrial units, there seem to be no digital transactions at all over here.

Kuppam has an agricultural produce marketing committee (APMC) yard and a very active flower market, where there are plenty of monetary transactions. At both these places, there are no signs of any digital or online transactions, and cash seems to be king.

At the APMC yard, which is more popular as Chandranna market (since it is the initiative of Naidu), at least 50-70 farmers turn up to sell tomatoes and other vegetables during off season from February to November. During the season that extends from March to October, some 150-200 farmers turn up at the APMC yard to sell their produce.

At the Chandranna APMC, there are instances of farmers availing of advance from traders and then settling it after they sell their produce.

“Farmers take advance of Rs 5,000 or Rs 10,000. They then pay it once they sell their tomatoes or other vegetables. Farmers need not necessarily sell to the person from who they have borrowed money,” says Haneef, who assists a tomato trader at the APMC yard.

Traders usually take a cut from the sale of farmers’ produce to make their ends meet. For example, if they buy a box of tomatoes (10 kg) for Rs 90 from a farmer, they sell it for Rs 100. “There are instances when retail traders have taken vegetables on credit from us and not paid,” says Haneef, explaining the risk that traders take.

All transactions are in cash. “No, there is no online or any other payment other than cash,” he says.

An APMC officer says digital transactions would be in place once the market yard is linked to electronic National Agriculture Market (eNAM). “Right now, such facilities are available at Madanapalle and Palamaner APMC yards in Chittoor district,” the official says.

The flower market, a private one, is active like a bee hive. Transactions seem to be happening every now and then from 9 am. But all activities tend to slow after 10.30 am, when most of the growers would have finished bringing their produce to the market, where around 25 traders are active.

Given the weather of the region, farmers cultivate horticulture and floriculture crops. Grains like rice and ragi are grown, but they are more for the farmers’ own consumption.

“Not enough grains are produced here. Very rarely do farmers have excess grains on hand since this is a dry region. When they have excess production, they sell it to middlemen, who take it to nearby Tamil Nadu APMCs,” says Arumugham, a helper with a flower trader, explaining the reason for the lack of any trading in foodgrains.

“We grow grains only to meet our needs. But we grow vegetables and flowers on our farms and sell on a daily basis. Besides, we rear cattle and sell milk,” says Venkateswarulu G from a village near Kuppam.

At the flower market, Arumugham said no one can be sure of how prices will be. During marriage seasons, we see good demand. “The situation is such that we could have demand but arrival could be less, or arrivals could be higher but demand could be muted. You can never say,” he says, adding that price behaviour reflects demand and all transactions are made in cash.

“The turnover can be anything between Rs 10,000 and Rs 40,000 a day depending on demand and supply. We have credit facility for buyers, though we have to settle it with the farmer as and when he asks,” says another trader.

Arumugham says growers’ settlement could be on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis depending on the choice of the grower.

“I have gone in for monthly settlement. If I need immediate cash, like for paying chit in our village, I take it from the trader. Say if I take Rs 5,000 as advance, when the payment is due, the trader calculates the payment due to me and the advance given. If I have taken more than what is due to me, it is settled in the subsequent month. If he owes me, he settles it immediately,” says Venkateswarulu.

Going by what the traders say, the flower market at Kuppam could see transactions worth at least Rs 3 lakh a day. This means nearly Rs 1 crore transactions in a month and over Rs 10 crore a year.

“It’s all cash here, whatever the transaction. No one here goes for cards or any other means of online transaction,” says another trader.

A Narasimham, a friend and fellow-farmer of Venkateswarulu, says they carry out digital transaction only for the milk they sell to Tirumala. “We get around 13 litres of milk from our cows daily. After keeping aside one litre for our family, we sell the rest. We go and give it to the cooling centre in our village,” says Narasimham.

Once the farmers deliver the milk, the amount due to them is noted and payment is made into their bank account. “The payment for milk comes to our bank account. We withdraw as and when we require it. Mostly, we have minimum balance,” says Narasimham.

“Who will want to keep their money in the bank? We prefer to have it in cash with us for our daily needs,” says Venkateswarulu.

Across the town, the view on digital transactions is that they are being done at a minimal level. This is surprising since such transactions are picking up at nearby Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu, which is about 30 km from Kuppam.

“It could be that most people in Kuppam are lower-middle class and below, who find it more convenient to use cash,” says Srinivas G, a trader.

It could be true probably. Kuppam doesn’t see even four-wheelers that are found at the lower levels in the market. Most of the people in the region, including growers, make use of share autos. While the more affluent ones use two-wheelers.

Still, for a constituency represented by a chief minister who is seen as tech-savvy and friendly, Kuppam is a shocker.