Minimalist IAS
Modern India & the freedom struggle

Prelims · Modern India & the freedom struggle · 12 questions

Social & religious reform movements

Every UPSC Prelims question on this topic, 2016–2026, newest first. Tap an option to check yourself; the answer and explanation open below it.

Social & religious reform movements questions per year: 2016: 2, 2017: 0, 2018: 1, 2019: 0, 2020: 2, 2021: 1, 2022: 0, 2023: 0, 2024: 0, 2025: 2, 2026: 0 Asked in 5 of 11 years · most in 2025 (2)

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UPSC syllabus: “History of India and Indian National Movement.” Sub-topics in the detailed syllabus →

निम्नलिखित कथनों पर विचार कीजिए :

  1. 1.फैक्टरी ऐक्ट, 1881 औद्योगिक कामगारों की मज़दूरी नियत करने के लिए और कामगारों को मज़दूर संघ बनाने देने की दृष्टि से पारित किया गया था ।
  2. 2.एन.एम. लोखंडे ब्रिटिश भारत में मज़दूर आन्दोलन संगठित करने में अग्रगामी थे ।

उपर्युक्त कथनों में से कौन-सा/से सही है/हैं ?

Read this question in English

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?

(a) 1 only · (b) 2 only · (c) Both 1 and 2 · (d) Neither 1 nor 2

उत्तर और व्याख्या · explanation in English

Answer: (b) केवल 2

The Factories Act, 1881 (passed under Lord Ripon) was a limited measure about working conditions, chiefly of child workers in factories; it neither fixed wages nor recognised trade unions. Narayan Meghaji Lokhande, who founded the Bombay Mill Hands Association in 1884, is hailed as the father of the trade union movement in India.

  • ✗ 1. The 1881 Act regulated factory conditions, mainly for children. Laws on wages (Payment of Wages Act, 1936; Minimum Wages Act, 1948) and on registering trade unions (Trade Unions Act, 1926) came decades later.
  • ✓ 2. Lokhande set up the Mill Hand Association in 1884, which marked the institutionalisation of the labour movement; his agitation led to the Factory Labour Commission and the Factory Act of 1891.

Remember · N.M. Lokhande: Bombay Mill Hands Association (1884), father of India's trade union movement. Factory Act 1881 (Ripon) = child labour; trade unions legalised only by the Trade Unions Act, 1926.

Sources

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2017, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

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