More female cultivators than males in Meghalaya

SHILLONG, May 1 ? Matrilineal Meghalaya has all along been showing the predominance of women in various economic activities besides their occupying a position of pride in the family and society. And now the Census of India-paper 3 released here yesterday has established that there are more female cultivators in the State than males. The Paper 3 revealed that female cultivators comprise 51.88 per cent of the total cultivators in the State compared to 44.89 per cent males. Though agriculture is the main economic activity in Meghalaya, only 47.80 per cent of the workers are cultivators. However, the report has categorised 32.23 per cent as ?other workers.? East Garo Hills district, among the seven districts in the State, has recorded the largest number of cultivators with 68.74 per cent while East Khasi Hills district has the lowest with 18.83 per cent. Dealing with workers and non-workers, Paper 3 has brought out an alarming fact that the percentage of main workers in the State has fallen drastically from 40.32 per cent in 1991 to 32.21 per cent in 2001 with a corresponding rise of non-workers from 57.33 per cent to 58.33. State Chief Secretary J Tayeng while releasing the Paper said that the State government looks forward to the publication of the Primary Census Abstract, which is a publication which contained vital information for use in planning developmental programmes in a uniform manner. He also mentioned the ?household schedule?, which holds important details of migration which is vital and relevant for studying the depth of influx problem, in order to formulate new methods and strategy to tackle it.