Support to Training and Employment Programme for Women (STEP)
The Support to Training and Employment Programme for Women (STEP) is a government initiative in India that aims to empower marginalized rural women, assetless rural and urban poor like wage laborers, unpaid daily workers, female-headed households, migrant laborers, and tribal groups by enhancing their skills and providing employment opportunities. The program covers 90 per cent of the project cost, including training stipends, administrative costs, and support for cooperatives, with 10 per cent coming from the implementing agency. It also provides education, healthcare, sanitation, and nutrition services along with traditional sectors like agriculture, animal husbandry, dairying, fisheries, handlooms, handicrafts, khadi, village industries, sericulture, social forestry, and wasteland development. The scheme is implemented through public sector organizations, district rural development agencies, cooperatives, and voluntary organizations. It aims to empower women to become self-reliant and economically independent.
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