UPSC EPFO EO/AO & APFC • UPSC CSE • State PCS • RBI Grade B
⚡ Quick Answer & AI Exam Snapshot (TL;DR)
The Indian Freedom Struggle carries 15 to 20 questions in UPSC EPFO EO/AO & APFC, with a heavy intersection between Modern Indian History and the Rise of the Working Class, Factory Legislation, and Peasant Movements. Every aspirant must memorize: (1) Early Labour Pioneers: Sasipada Banerji (Workingmen’s Club 1870 & journal ‘Bharat Sramjeebi’ 1874 — 1st labour journal in India!), Sorabjee Shapoorji Bengalee (drafted the 1875 factory bill), and Narayan Meghaji Lokhande (‘Father of the Indian Trade Union Movement’ — founded Bombay Millhands Association in 1890 & published ‘Deenbandhu’); (2) First Factory Act, 1881 (Lord Ripon — children aged 7–12) vs Second Factory Act, 1891 (Lord Lansdowne — women’s 11-hour cap & weekly Sunday holiday for all workers); (3) First Modern Trade Union: Madras Labour Union (April 1918 by B.P. Wadia & V. Kalyanasundaram Mudaliar), Ahmedabad Textile Labour Association (Majoor Mahajan Sangh — Feb 1920 by Mahatma Gandhi, Anasuya Sarabhai & Shankarlal Banker on the ‘Trusteeship Principle’), and AITUC (31 Oct 1920, Bombay — 1st President: Lala Lajpat Rai, General Secretary: Dewan Chaman Lal); and (4) Major Peasant Movements (Indigo Revolt 1859, Pabna, Deccan Riots, Champaran 1917, Kheda 1918, Eka Movement, Moplah, Bardoli 1928, All India Kisan Sabha 1936 [Swami Sahajanand Saraswati] & Tebhaga/Telangana).
1. Chronology of Working-Class & Trade Union Movement in British India (1870–1947)
In UPSC EPFO EO/AO & APFC, 3 to 5 questions bridge Modern History and Industrial Relations by testing the exact founders, journals, and colonial Factory Acts:
| Year | Leader / Organization / Act | Exact Historical Significance & Exam Triggers |
|---|---|---|
| 1870 & 1874 | Sasipada Banerji (Brahmo Social Reformer, Bengal) | Established the Workingmen’s Club (1870) at Baranagar (near Calcutta) for jute mill workers and published the monthly journal ‘Bharat Sramjeebi’ (1874) — the FIRST labour journal in India! |
| 1875 & 1878 | Sorabjee Shapoorji Bengalee (Bombay) | Started an agitation in 1875 drawing attention to the plight of women and child workers in Bombay cotton mills and drafted a bill for the Bombay Legislative Council in 1878. |
| 1881 | First Indian Factories Act, 1881 Viceroy: Lord Ripon |
• Applied ONLY to factories using mechanical power and employing 100 or more workers. • Regulated Child Labour ONLY: Prohibited employment of children below 7 years of age; capped working hours for children aged 7 to 12 years at 9 hours/day with 4 holidays per month. (Ignored adult male and female workers completely!). |
| 1884 & 1890 | Narayan Meghaji (N.M.) Lokhande ‘Father of the Indian Trade Union Movement’ |
• Associate of Mahatma Jyotirao Phule (Satyashodhak Samaj); edited the Anglo-Marathi labour weekly ‘Deenbandhu’ (Friend of the Poor). • Organized the first conference of Bombay mill workers in 1884 and submitted a memorandum signed by 5,500 workers to the Second Factory Commission. • Founded the Bombay Millhands Association (BMHA) in 1890 — the first labour association in India! |
| 1891 | Second Indian Factories Act, 1891 Viceroy: Lord Lansdowne |
• Applied to factories employing 50 or more workers. • Raised minimum child age to 9 years (hours for children aged 9–14 capped at 7 hours/day). • Fixed maximum working hours for Women at 11 hours/day (with a 1.5-hour rest interval) and provided a mandatory Weekly Holiday (Sunday) for ALL workers! (Note: Third Factory Act, 1911 [Lord Hardinge-II] capped adult male textile mill hours at 12 hours/day for the first time!). |
| April 1918 | Madras Labour Union (MLU) Founded by B.P. Wadia (along with V. Kalyanasundaram Mudaliar) |
Recognized as the FIRST Modern Trade Union in India (having regular membership lists and subscription fees, formed among textile workers of the Buckingham and Carnatic [B&C] Mills, Madras). In 1921, the Madras High Court issued an injunction against B.P. Wadia, which directly led to the enactment of the Trade Unions Act, 1926 (championed by N.M. Joshi)! |
| Feb 1918 → Feb 1920 | Ahmedabad Textile Labour Association (TLA / Majoor Mahajan Sangh) | Following the 1918 Ahmedabad Mill Strike (where Mahatma Gandhi undertook his first Hunger Strike in India to secure a 35% Plague Bonus hike), Gandhi, Anasuya Sarabhai, and Shankarlal Banker founded the TLA (Majoor Mahajan Sangh) in February 1920 based on the Gandhian Principle of Trusteeship and Non-Violent Arbitration! |
| 31 October 1920 | All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) (Bombay) | Founded to represent Indian workers at the newly created ILO (1919): • First President: Lala Lajpat Rai (who famously declared at the 1st session that “Imperialism and Militarism are the twin children of Capitalism”). • First General Secretary: Dewan Chaman Lal | Vice-President: Joseph Baptista | Key founders: N.M. Joshi & Bal Gangadhar Tilak. • Subsequent Splits & Central Federations: (i) 1929 Nagpur Session (Presided over by Jawaharlal Nehru): Moderates led by N.M. Joshi & V.V. Giri broke away to form ITUF (Indian Trade Union Federation); (ii) 1931 Calcutta: Communists led by S.V. Deshpande & B.T. Ranadive formed RTUC (Red Trade Union Congress); (iii) May 1947: Congress leaders (Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Gulzarilal Nanda, Khandubhai Desai) founded INTUC (Indian National Trade Union Congress); (iv) 1948: Socialists formed Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS); (v) 23 July 1955: Dattopant Thengadi founded Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS); and (vi) 1970: Marxists (B.T. Ranadive & E. Balanandan) founded CITU. |
| 1928–1929 | Meerut Conspiracy Case (March 1929) & Trade Disputes Act, 1929 | • Arrest of 31 leftist and trade union leaders (including 3 British communists: Philip Spratt, Ben Bradley, and Lester Hutchinson, plus S.A. Dange, Muzaffar Ahmad, Shaukat Usmani, and P.C. Joshi). • Trade Disputes Act, 1929: Set up Courts of Inquiry and Conciliation Boards and banned lightning strikes in public utility services AND sympathetic/political strikes (against which Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt threw non-lethal bombs in the Central Legislative Assembly on 8 April 1929!). • Royal Commission on Labour (Whitley Commission, 1929–1931): Chaired by J.H. Whitley (Indian members included N.M. Joshi and Diwan Chaman Lal). |
2. Major Peasant Movements & Kisan Sabhas in Modern India (1859–1947)
| Peasant Movement & Year | Region & Key Leaders | Core Grievance & Historical Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Indigo Revolt (Nil Bidroha, 1859–1860) | Nadia District, Bengal Digambar Biswas & Bishnu Charan Biswas |
Against forced cultivation of indigo under the exploitative Dadni (advance) system by European planters. Supported by Harish Chandra Mukherjee (editor of Hindu Patriot) and portrayed in Dinabandhu Mitra’s famous 1860 Bengali play ‘Nil Darpan’ (translated into English by Michael Madhusudan Dutt). Led to the Indigo Commission (1860) declaring that ryots could not be coerced to grow indigo! |
| 2. Pabna Agrarian Leagues (1873–1885) & Deccan Riots (1875) | Pabna (East Bengal — Ishan Chandra Roy & Shambhunath Pal) & Poona/Ahmednagar (Maharashtra) | • Pabna: Peaceful legal resistance against arbitrary rent hikes by Zamindars (ryots declared they wanted to be ryots of the Queen ONLY); led to the Bengal Tenancy Act, 1885. • Deccan Riots (1875): Social boycott and burning of debt bonds against Marwari/Gujarati moneylenders (Sahukars) under the Ryotwari system; led to the Deccan Agriculturists’ Relief Act, 1879. |
| 3. Champaran Satyagraha (1917) & Kheda Satyagraha (1918) | Champaran (Bihar — Mahatma Gandhi, Rajkumar Shukla, Rajendra Prasad, J.B. Kripalani, Mahadev Desai) & Kheda (Gujarat — Gandhi, Sardar Patel, Indulal Yagnik) | • Champaran (1917 — Gandhi’s 1st Civil Disobedience in India): Against the Tinkathia System (forcing peasants to grow indigo on 3/20th of their land) and illegal Abwabs/Sharahbeshi; planters agreed to refund 25% of illegal dues and abolish Tinkathia. • Kheda (1918 — Gandhi’s 1st Non-Cooperation in India): Against collection of land revenue despite severe drought when crop yield was less than 1/4th of normal. |
| 4. UP Kisan Sabha (1918), Awadh Kisan Sabha (1920) & Eka Movement (1921–22) | United Provinces (UP) | • UP Kisan Sabha (Feb 1918, Allahabad): Founded by Gauri Shankar Mishra and Indra Narayan Dwivedi with strong support from Madan Mohan Malaviya. • Awadh Kisan Sabha (Oct 1920, Pratapgarh): Founded by Baba Ramchandra (along with Jawaharlal Nehru) utilizing Nai-Dhobi Bandhs (social boycotts). • Eka (Unity) Movement (Late 1921, Hardoi, Bahraich, Sitapur): Led at the grassroots by Madari Pasi against extraction of 50% higher rent and Hari/Begar (forced labour). |
| 5. Bardoli Satyagraha (1928) | Surat District, Gujarat Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel |
Against an arbitrary 30% (later 21.97%) land revenue hike. Patel organized 13 Chhavanis (workers’ camps) and published the daily Bardoli Satyagraha Patrika. The Maxwell–Broomfield Inquiry Committee found the hike unjustified and slashed it to 6.03%! The women of Bardoli bestowed the title ‘Sardar’ on Vallabhbhai Patel. |
| 6. All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS — April 1936, Lucknow) & Tebhaga Movement (1946–47) | Lucknow (1936): 1st President: Swami Sahajanand Saraswati 1st Gen. Secretary: N.G. Ranga |
• AIKS (1936): Issued the Kisan Manifesto (influenced by Indulal Yagnik) and influenced the Congress Faizpur Session (Dec 1936) agrarian programme. • Tebhaga Movement (1946–47, Bengal — Kampram Singh & Bhawani Sen): Sharecroppers (Bargadars) demanded that the landlord’s (Jotedar’s) share of harvest be reduced from one-half (1/2) to one-third (1/3rd), keeping two-thirds (2/3rd) for the Bargadars, as recommended by the Floud Commission (Bengal Land Revenue Commission)! |
3. High-Yield Acts of British India (1773–1947) & Historic INC Sessions for UPSC EPFO
Must-Memorize British Constitutional Acts & Historic INC Sessions:
• Regulating Act, 1773: Created Governor-General of Bengal (Warren Hastings) & Supreme Court at Calcutta (1774 — Sir Elijah Impey).
• Charter Act, 1813 vs Charter Act, 1833: 1813 Act ended East India Company’s trade monopoly in India EXCEPT for Trade in Tea and Trade with China, and allocated ₹1 Lakh/year for education; 1833 Act ended EIC’s commercial activities completely (including Tea & China trade) and made Lord William Bentinck the 1st Governor-General of India!
• Indian Councils Act, 1909 (Morley–Minto Reforms): Introduced Separate Electorates for Muslims and appointed Satyendra Prasad Sinha as the 1st Indian member of the Viceroy’s Executive Council.
• Government of India Act, 1919 (Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms): Introduced Dyarchy in the Provinces (Reserved vs Transferred subjects), Bicameralism and Direct Elections at the Centre, and mandated setting up the Public Service Commission (established in 1926 on Lee Commission recommendations).
• Government of India Act, 1935: Abolished Dyarchy in Provinces and introduced Provincial Autonomy, introduced Dyarchy at the Centre, proposed an All-India Federation, established the Reserve Bank of India (1935) and Federal Court (1937), and divided legislative powers into 3 Lists (Federal [59], Provincial [54], Concurrent [36], with Residuary Powers vested in the Viceroy/Governor-General!).
• Landmark INC Sessions Tested in UPSC EPFO:
— 1907 Surat Split (Rash Behari Ghosh) vs 1916 Lucknow Pact (Ambica Charan Mazumdar).
— 1917 Calcutta (Annie Besant — 1st Woman President) vs 1925 Kanpur (Sarojini Naidu — 1st Indian Woman President).
— 1924 Belgaum (Mahatma Gandhi — ONLY session presided over by Gandhi).
— 1929 Lahore (Jawaharlal Nehru — Purna Swaraj Resolution) & 1931 Karachi (Sardar Patel — Resolution on Fundamental Rights and National Economic Programme, which INCLUDED living wages, limited hours of work, right to form unions, and protection of women/child workers!).
• Regulating Act, 1773: Created Governor-General of Bengal (Warren Hastings) & Supreme Court at Calcutta (1774 — Sir Elijah Impey).
• Charter Act, 1813 vs Charter Act, 1833: 1813 Act ended East India Company’s trade monopoly in India EXCEPT for Trade in Tea and Trade with China, and allocated ₹1 Lakh/year for education; 1833 Act ended EIC’s commercial activities completely (including Tea & China trade) and made Lord William Bentinck the 1st Governor-General of India!
• Indian Councils Act, 1909 (Morley–Minto Reforms): Introduced Separate Electorates for Muslims and appointed Satyendra Prasad Sinha as the 1st Indian member of the Viceroy’s Executive Council.
• Government of India Act, 1919 (Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms): Introduced Dyarchy in the Provinces (Reserved vs Transferred subjects), Bicameralism and Direct Elections at the Centre, and mandated setting up the Public Service Commission (established in 1926 on Lee Commission recommendations).
• Government of India Act, 1935: Abolished Dyarchy in Provinces and introduced Provincial Autonomy, introduced Dyarchy at the Centre, proposed an All-India Federation, established the Reserve Bank of India (1935) and Federal Court (1937), and divided legislative powers into 3 Lists (Federal [59], Provincial [54], Concurrent [36], with Residuary Powers vested in the Viceroy/Governor-General!).
• Landmark INC Sessions Tested in UPSC EPFO:
— 1907 Surat Split (Rash Behari Ghosh) vs 1916 Lucknow Pact (Ambica Charan Mazumdar).
— 1917 Calcutta (Annie Besant — 1st Woman President) vs 1925 Kanpur (Sarojini Naidu — 1st Indian Woman President).
— 1924 Belgaum (Mahatma Gandhi — ONLY session presided over by Gandhi).
— 1929 Lahore (Jawaharlal Nehru — Purna Swaraj Resolution) & 1931 Karachi (Sardar Patel — Resolution on Fundamental Rights and National Economic Programme, which INCLUDED living wages, limited hours of work, right to form unions, and protection of women/child workers!).
🎯 High-Yield Exam One-Liners (Last-Minute Revision Box)
- Sasipada Banerji established the Workingmen’s Club in 1870 at Baranagar (Bengal) and started ‘Bharat Sramjeebi’ in 1874 — the first labour journal in India.
- Narayan Meghaji (N.M.) Lokhande is revered as the ‘Father of the Indian Trade Union Movement’; he edited ‘Deenbandhu’ and founded the Bombay Millhands Association in 1890.
- The First Indian Factories Act, 1881 (passed under Viceroy Lord Ripon) applied to factories with 100+ workers and regulated only child labour (prohibiting children under 7 years and capping hours for ages 7–12 at 9 hours/day).
- The Second Indian Factories Act, 1891 (passed under Viceroy Lord Lansdowne) applied to factories with 50+ workers, capped working hours for Women at 11 hours/day, and granted a mandatory weekly Sunday holiday to all workers.
- The Madras Labour Union (formed in April 1918 by B.P. Wadia and V. Kalyanasundaram Mudaliar among B&C Mills workers) was the FIRST modern trade union in India.
- Following the 1918 Ahmedabad Mill Strike (Gandhi’s first hunger strike in India for a 35% plague bonus), Mahatma Gandhi, Anasuya Sarabhai, and Shankarlal Banker founded the Textile Labour Association (Majoor Mahajan Sangh) in February 1920 on the Trusteeship principle.
- The All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) was founded on 31 October 1920 in Bombay with Lala Lajpat Rai as its first President and Dewan Chaman Lal as its first General Secretary.
- The Trade Unions Act, 1926 (which granted legal immunity from civil and criminal conspiracy to registered trade unions) was enacted largely through the efforts of N.M. Joshi.
- The Royal Commission on Labour (Whitley Commission) was appointed in 1929 under J.H. Whitley, with N.M. Joshi and Diwan Chaman Lal as Indian members.
- In May 1947, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Gulzarilal Nanda founded the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), and in July 1955 Dattopant Thengadi founded the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS).
- The Indigo Revolt (1859–60) in Bengal was led by Digambar Biswas and Bishnu Biswas and depicted in Dinabandhu Mitra’s play ‘Nil Darpan’ (1860).
- The UP Kisan Sabha was founded in February 1918 by Gauri Shankar Mishra and Indra Narayan Dwivedi with the backing of Madan Mohan Malaviya, while Baba Ramchandra founded the Awadh Kisan Sabha in October 1920.
- The Eka (Unity) Movement of 1921–22 in Hardoi, Bahraich, and Sitapur (UP) was led at the grassroots by Madari Pasi.
- In the Bardoli Satyagraha of 1928 led by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the Maxwell–Broomfield Committee reduced the arbitrary 30% land revenue enhancement down to 6.03%.
- The All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) was founded at Lucknow in April 1936 with Swami Sahajanand Saraswati as its first President and N.G. Ranga as its first General Secretary.
- The Tebhaga Movement (1946–47) in Bengal was a struggle by sharecroppers (Bargadars) demanding two-thirds (2/3rd) of the crop share instead of half, based on the Floud Commission recommendations.
- At the 1931 Karachi Session of the INC (presided over by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel), the Congress passed the historic Resolution on Fundamental Rights and National Economic Programme, which guaranteed a living wage, limited working hours, and the right of workers to form trade unions.
📝 UPSC & Regulatory Level Practice MCQs (With Detailed Solutions)
Q1. Match the following pioneers of the Indian Working-Class and Trade Union Movement with their landmark contributions: (1) Sasipada Banerji; (2) Narayan Meghaji Lokhande; (3) B.P. Wadia; (4) Anasuya Sarabhai & Mahatma Gandhi.
Correct Answer: (B) — Sasipada Banerji founded the Workingmen’s Club (1870) and published ‘Bharat Sramjeebi’ (1874); N.M. Lokhande edited ‘Deenbandhu’ and founded the Bombay Millhands Association (1890); B.P. Wadia founded the Madras Labour Union (April 1918 — India’s first modern trade union); and Mahatma Gandhi, Anasuya Sarabhai, and Shankarlal Banker founded the Ahmedabad Textile Labour Association (Majoor Mahajan Sangh) in February 1920.
Q2. Which of the following statements correctly contrasts the First Indian Factories Act, 1881 (Lord Ripon) with the Second Indian Factories Act, 1891 (Lord Lansdowne)?
Correct Answer: (B) — The First Factories Act, 1881 (Lord Ripon) covered power-driven factories with >=100 workers and protected only children (banning <7 years, 9 hrs/day for 7–12 years). The Second Factories Act, 1891 (Lord Lansdowne) lowered the threshold to >=50 workers, raised minimum child age to 9 years (7 hrs/day for 9–14 years), capped women’s working hours at 11 hours/day, and mandated a weekly holiday for all factory workers.
Q3. Who served as the First President and the First General Secretary, respectively, of the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) at its inaugural session held in Bombay on 31 October 1920?
Correct Answer: (B) — At the inaugural session of the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) on 31 October 1920 at the Empire Theatre in Bombay, Lala Lajpat Rai served as the first President, Dewan Chaman Lal as the first General Secretary, and Joseph Baptista as Vice-President.
Q4. The ‘Tebhaga Movement’ of 1946–47 in Bengal was a militant peasant struggle led by the Bangiya Pradeshik Kisan Sabha in which sharecroppers (Bargadars) demanded implementation of the recommendations of which Commission?
Correct Answer: (B) — In the Tebhaga Movement (1946–47), sharecroppers (Bargadars) demanded that the share of harvest given to landlords (Jotedars) be reduced from one-half to one-third (retaining two-thirds or ‘tebhaga’ for the sharecroppers), as had been recommended by the Bengal Land Revenue Commission headed by Sir Francis Floud (Floud Commission, 1940).
Q5. Under the Government of India Act, 1935, in whom were the ‘Residuary Legislative Powers’ (subjects not enumerated in the Federal List, Provincial List, or Concurrent List) vested?
Correct Answer: (C) — Under Section 104 of the Government of India Act, 1935, residuary legislative powers were vested neither in the Federal Legislature nor in the Provincial Legislatures, but in the Governor-General (Viceroy) of India in his discretion. (In contrast, under Article 248 of the Constitution of independent India, residuary powers are vested in the Union Parliament).
❓ Frequently Asked Questions (Exam FAQs)
Q: Why is the 1931 Karachi Session of the Indian National Congress especially important for UPSC EPFO exams?
Presided over by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (and drafted largely by Jawaharlal Nehru), the 1931 Karachi Resolution on Fundamental Rights and National Economic Programme was the first formal Congress charter of labour rights: it promised a living wage for industrial workers, limited hours of work, healthy conditions of work, protection against the economic consequences of old age, sickness, and unemployment, emancipation of labour from serfdom, protection of women workers (with maternity leave), prohibition of child labour in factories/mines, and the right of workers and peasants to form unions.
Q: Which incident directly triggered the passing of the Indian Trade Unions Act, 1926?
The 1921 Buckingham and Carnatic (B&C) Mills case in Madras, where the Madras High Court granted an injunction and awarded ₹75,000 in damages against union leader B.P. Wadia for ‘inducing a breach of contract’ during a strike. This shocked British and Indian labour leaders and prompted N.M. Joshi to introduce a bill in the Central Legislative Assembly, culminating in the Trade Unions Act, 1926 (which granted registered trade unions immunity from civil suits under Section 18 and criminal conspiracy under Section 17).
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