UPSC Prelims 2017 · Question 99 of 99
UPSC Prelims 2017 question on Early Labour Legislation India
- ExamUPSC CSE
- Year2017
- PaperGeneral Studies Paper I
- SubjectModern History
- TopicConstitutional Development
- DifficultyHard
- TypeStatement
Consider the following statements:
1. The Factories Act, 1881 was passed with a view to fix the wages of industrial workers and to allow the workers to form trade unions.
2. N. M. Lokhande was a pioneer in organizing the labour movement in British India.
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
Show answer
Answer: B. 2 only
Verdict
The answer is 2 only. N. M. Lokhande pioneered labour organisation in British India, but the Factories Act of 1881 did not fix wages or permit trade unions.
Analysis
Statement 2 is CORRECT. Narayan Meghaji Lokhande organised the Bombay Mill Hands Association and is regarded as the pioneer of the labour movement in British India. Statement 1 is INCORRECT. The Factories Act of 1881 prohibited employment of children under seven, limited working hours for children below twelve, required dangerous machinery to be fenced, provided a rest period and monthly leave, and created inspectors. It contained no provision on wages and none permitting trade unions, which came only with the Trade Unions Act of 1926.
Source
Bipan Chandra, India's Struggle for Independence, chapter on the Indian working class.
How to crack it
Early factory legislation addressed physical working conditions, especially of children, rather than wages or collective bargaining, because the colonial state regulated safety long before it recognised organisation. Date the subject matter rather than the Act: trade union recognition belongs to 1926 and industrial disputes machinery to 1929, so any earlier Act granting those rights is anachronistic. Subject chronology falsifies the statement without recalling the Act's text.