To support women’s work by providing a range of inputs, with especial focus on training for skill upgradation, and marketing linkages, in 8 sectors in which there is a high proportion of women workers: Dairy, agriculture, small animal husbandry,

fisheries, handlooms, handicrafts, khadi and village industries, sericulture.

Later, two more sectors, social forestry and waste land development, were added.

Mobilising into groups to better address patriarchal constraints

Training, credit, marketing linkages – integrated package of inputs – to enhance productivity of women’s work and self employment

Higher incomes /economic empowerment will open up a pathway to overall empowerment

Covering a large number of women and drawing more public resources towards them would change their role and status within the sector - move up the value chain, increase women’s overall contribution to sectoral output

Largely echoes the analysis in Shramshakti, National Commission for Self Employed Women and Women in the Informal Sector

Percentage Share of STEP

6.94.5

2.1 1.8

6.5

10.99.8

20.2

13.211.310.3

8.6 9

1210.5

11.8

15.5

6.48

0

5

10

15

20

25

Year

Per

cent

age

from

Tot

al W

omen

's

Wel

fare

Pro

gram

me

Series1

Over 55 percent of the total budget allocated to projects in 5 states (UP, Rajasthan, Orissa, Karnataka, and West Bengal)

In the period 1986-90, 44 percent went to dairy projects: share went up to 70-80 %.

1994-5: by Planning CommissionConcluded that ‘the programme has

not made much dent on making the economic activities of the women more viable in view of the rising inflation’

ISST 2006 Impact at level of sector only

perceptible in dairyingPoorest women excluded – self

employment too riskyTraining focus technical, not holisticNon-involvement of men can be

problematicAdministrative issues – delays, etc

Examples:• A project leads to higher income or earning

potential: but does it address impact on unpaid work and care; what would change?

• Adult women find work, adding to household income and their own eco empowerment – but are there inadvertent outcomes – eg irregular girls attendance in school; reduced milk consumption of children?

• Women receive training for new forms of income generating activity: but cannot question/ change seclusion norms: eg carpet weaving for own use, not for market

Training of adult women in growing medicinal plants for sale does not translate into actual production for the market: project did not factor in the fact of land ownership by men

Challenge: Seeking sustainable change, progress towards gender equality and ‘empowerment’ – but trajectories of change not pre-determined