Hollywood actress Cameron Diaz has a pair and now, so does Prince Charles, after Mumbai dabbawallahs carried him a wedding present. The 170 families of Athani village in Belgaum district of Karnataka that make the chappals now have their own Toehold Artisans Collaborative (TAC), owned by 13 self-help groups. The cooperative was started by the Asian Centre for Entrepreneurial Initiatives (Ascent) on a build-operate-transfer basis in 2000.

Today, TAC has over 850 designs and it works only with buyers of high-end boutiques across the globe. A vital role in the making of this success story has been the use of information and communication technology (ICT). TAC was the first enterprise to use ICT in its business model for which it also won the Manthan award. And as the government today prepares to open one lakh rural kiosks, which would provide digital services and link up business to customers and government to citizens in over 600,000 villages, Toehold is an example to be followed.

‘‘We are the first ones to use this business model where in the enterprise is owned by the artisans themselves. Today Ascent only acts as a facilitator but the groups are very able to take decisions on marketing and investments on their own,’’ says Madhura M Chatrapathy, trustee director Ascent.

She adds, ‘‘we did not want to highlight the poverty of these people who were from SC/ ST sections of society. We wanted to highlight the quality of their product and ensure they got the best price for it. It is here that we used information technology. We made a website which did not reflect the background of these people but one that was purely business.’’

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