All over Bombay cobblers work 16 hours a day crafting shoes for the rich. Yet cobblers have been cheated of funds which should have improved their lot. The government made millions available in low interest loans and tax concessions specifically for cobblers - but this money never reached them. Politicians and shoe retailers such as Metro, Dawood and City Walk siphoned off every rupee, setting up fake cobbler cooperatives. A few cobblers have now formed a union in protest, although they fear crushing retaliation. ABC Australia talks to police officers attempting to solve the problem, the businessmen who profited from the scheme, and the cobblers themselves, in an exploration of corruption in India.

Produced by ABC Australia