Prelims 2017 · Q24
MediumConsider 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?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (b) 2 only
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
- PIB, Prime Minister's Office (3 May 2005): PM releases commemorative stamp on Narayan Lokhande ↗ “The establishment of the Mill Hand Association in 1884 by Lokhandeji marked the institutionalization of the labour movement in India. … His struggle resulted in the constitution of the Factory Labour Commission, of which he was made a Member. The work of this Commission led to the enactment of the Factory Act of 1891”
- PIB: India’s Labour Reforms: Simplification, Security, and Sustainable Growth ↗ “four existing laws- The Payment of Wages Act, 1936; The Minimum Wages Act, 1948; The Payment of Bonus Act, 1965; and The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976. … The Industrial Relations Code (IR Code) has been prepared after amalgamating, simplifying and rationalizing the relevant provisions of the Trade Unions Act, 1926”
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 ·