UPSC Prelims 2018 · Question 70 of 99
UPSC Prelims 2018 question on Hind Mazdoor Sabha
- ExamUPSC CSE
- Year2018
- PaperGeneral Studies Paper I
- SubjectModern History
- TopicMiscellaneous Modern History
- DifficultyHard
- TypeDirect
Who among the following were the founders of the 'Hind Mazdoor Sabha' established in 1948?
Show answer
Answer: D. Ashok Mehta, T.S. Ramanujam and G.G. Mehta
Analysis
The founders listed in option (d) are correct, so the answer is (d).
The Hind Mazdoor Sabha is a national trade union centre founded at Howrah on 24 December 1948 by Socialists, Forward Bloc followers and independent unionists. Its founders included Basawan Singh, Ashok Mehta, R. S. Ruikar, Mani Benkara, Shibnath Banerjee, R. K. Khedgikar, T. S. Ramanujam, V. S. Mathur and G. G. Mehta. Ruikar was elected president and Ashok Mehta general secretary. It absorbed the Royist Indian Federation of Labour and the Socialist Hind Mazdoor Panchayat, and was intended as a third force in Indian trade unionism, balancing between INTUC, seen as government controlled, and AITUC, controlled by the Communist Party. Independence from government, employers and political parties is its basic feature.
Source
Hind Mazdoor Sabha official website.
How to crack it
The static anchor is the ideological map of Indian trade unionism, INTUC with Congress, AITUC with the Communists, and HMS as the socialist third force. That map alone rules out option (a), which lists Kerala communist leaders, and option (b), which mixes leaders from irreconcilable traditions. Placing each name on the political spectrum narrows the field even when the founders are unfamiliar.