Q24 (IAS/2017) History & Culture › Modern India (Pre-1857) › Colonial economic impact Official Key

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 ?

Result

Your answer: — · Correct: B

Explanation

The correct answer is option B (Statement 2 only).

**Statement 1 is incorrect.** The Factories Act was meant to ensure adequate safety measures and promote health and welfare of the workers employed in factories as well as to prevent haphazard growth of factories.[1] The earliest regulations, such as the Factories Act of 1881, were introduced to control working conditions.[2] The Act did not fix wages or provide for trade union formation. The right to form trade unions was expressly recognized by The Trade Unions Act 1926[3], not by the Factories Act of 1881.

**Statement 2 is correct.** N.M. Lokhanday of Bombay raised their voice for protecting the interests of the industrial labourers.[4] He was indeed a pioneer in organizing the labour movement in British India, working specifically to improve the conditions of factory workers in Bombay during the late 19th century.

Sources

[1] https://kile.kerala.gov.in/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Moneyveena.pdf
[3] https://kile.kerala.gov.in/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Moneyveena.pdf
[4] History , class XII (Tamilnadu state board 2024 ed.) > Chapter 3: Impact of World War I on Indian Freedom Movement > 3.7 Rise of Labour Movement > p. 38

How others answered

Each bar shows the % of students who chose that option. Green bar = correct answer, blue outline = your choice.

Community Performance

Out of everyone who attempted this question.

50%

got it right

Web / Current Affairs

Online pages / news items supporting the statement

Web source

Presence: 4/5

"This is an Act to consolidate and amend the ensure adequate safety measures and promote health and welfare of the workers employed in factories as well as to prevent haphazard growth of factories. The Factories Act is meant to exploited and also provides for improvement of the working conditions within the factory premise"

Why this source?

Directly states the object of the Factories Act is to ensure safety, health and welfare of workers and to improve working conditions.
Focus on safety/working conditions implies the Act's purpose was regulatory/protective rather than wage-fixing.

Web source

Presence: 4/5

"restrictions for the benefit of workers who in the view of the State stand in need of some or all the protections afforded by the Factories Act"

Why this source?

Describes the Act's object as authorising restrictions and protections for the benefit of workers.
Emphasises extension of protections rather than measures about fixing wages.

Indirect textbook clues (5)

How books hint at the answer

Rajiv Ahir. A Brief History of Modern India (2019 ed.). SPECTRUM. > Chapter 27: Survey of British Policies in India > Labour Legislations > p. 534

Strength: 5/5

“The first commission was appointed in 1875 although the first Factory Act was not passed before 1881. The Indian Factory Act, 1881 dealt primarily with the problem of child labour (between 7 and 12 years of age). Its significant provisions were: • employment of children under 7 years of age prohibited,• working hours restricted to 9 hours per day for children,• children to get four holidays in a month,• hazardous machinery to be properly fenced off. The Indian Factory Act, 1891• increased the minimum age (from 7 to 9 years) and the maximum (from 12 to 14 years) for children,• reduced maximum working hours for children to 7 hours a day,• fixed maximum working hours for women at 11 hours per day with an one-and-a-half hour interval (working hours for men were left unregulated),• provided weekly holiday for all.”

Why relevant

Lists the substantive provisions of the Indian Factory Act, 1881 — child labour limits, working hours for children, holidays, and machinery fencing — with no mention of wages.

How to extend

A student could infer the Act's focus was on welfare/safety and check contemporaneous sources or the Act text to see whether wage-fixation was absent.

Modern India ,Bipin Chandra, History class XII (NCERT 1982 ed.)[Old NCERT] > Chapter 9: Administrative Changes After 1858 > Hostility to Educated Indians > p. 163

Strength: 4/5

“For the proper fencing off of dangerous machinery. The second Indian Factories Act was passed in 1891. It provided for a weekly holiday for all workers. Working hours for women were fixed at 11 per day while daily hours of work for children were reduced to 7. Hours of work for men were still left unregulated. Neither of the two Acts applied to British-owned tea and coffee plantations. On the contrary, the Government gave every help to the foreign planters to exploit their workers in a most ruthless manner. Most of the tea plantations were situated in Assam which was very thinly populated and had an unhealthy climate.”

Why relevant

Describes the 1891 Act's regulation of hours and safety, notes men's hours were left unregulated, and explicitly contrasts the Acts' coverage with plantation exemptions — again no wages addressed.

How to extend

A student could use this pattern (Acts regulating hours/safety but not wages) to hypothesize that earlier acts like 1881 likewise did not set wages and then verify via primary law texts.

Modern India ,Bipin Chandra, History class XII (NCERT 1982 ed.)[Old NCERT] > Chapter 9: Administrative Changes After 1858 > Hostility to Educated Indians > p. 162

Strength: 3/5

“The Government of India spent most of its large income on the army and wars and the administrative services and starved the social services. For example, in 1886, of its total net revenue of nearly Rs. 47 Labour Legislation: The condition of workers in modern factories and plantations in the 19th century was miserable. They had to work between 12 and 16 hours a day, and there was no weekly day of rest. Women and children worked the same long hours as men. The wages were extremely low, ranging from Rs. 4 to 20 per month. The factories were overcrowded, badly lighted and aired, and completely unhygienic.”

Why relevant

Gives typical 19th-century factory conditions and cites extremely low wages (Rs.4–20/month) while describing legislation dealing with labour conditions, implying social concern focused on hours/safety rather than wage rates.

How to extend

Knowing wages were a separate socio-economic problem, a student could cross-check whether wage regulation was legislated then or left unaddressed until later reforms.

Rajiv Ahir. A Brief History of Modern India (2019 ed.). SPECTRUM. > Chapter 32: The Movement of the Working Class > 586 ✫ A Brief History of Modern India > p. 586

Strength: 3/5

“• differentiated between the labour in the Indianowned factories and those in the British-owned factories;• believed that labour legislations would affect the competitive edge enjoyed by the Indian-owned industries;• did not want a division in the movement on the basis of classes;• did not support the Factory Acts of 1881 and 1891 for these reasons. Thus, earlier attempts to improve the economic conditions of the workers were in the nature of the philanthropic efforts which were isolated, sporadic and aimed at specific local grievances. 1870 Sasipada Banerjea started a workingmen's club and newspaper Bharat Shramjeevi. 1878 Sorabjee Shapoorji Bengalee tried to get a bill, providing better working conditions to labour, passed in the Bombay Legislative Council.”

Why relevant

Notes some Indian leaders did not support the Factory Acts (1881, 1891) because they feared effects on Indian industries' competitiveness — indicating the Acts imposed regulatory burdens rather than redistributive wage-fixing.

How to extend

A student could use this political reaction to infer the Acts imposed operational regulations (hours/conditions) and then seek evidence whether wage controls were politically contested or absent.

Indian Economy, Vivek Singh (7th ed. 2023-24) > Chapter 8: Inclusive growth and issues > Minimum Wages > p. 262

Strength: 5/5

“(This will change once the new labour codes come into effect) • Central government announces National Floor Level Minimum Wage (NFLMW) which is nonstatutory but acts as a benchmark that pulls up the wages of the workers. NFLMW does not operate as a conventional floor wage to protect the lowest paid workers. Currently NFLMW is Rs. 176/day.• India was one of the first developing countries to introduce minimum wages with the enactment of the Minimum Wages Act way back in 1948. The Act protects both regular and casual workers. Minimum wage rates are set both by the Central and State governments for employees working in selected 'scheduled' employment.”

Why relevant

States that India introduced formal minimum wages much later (Minimum Wages Act, 1948), showing that statutory wage fixation as a legal instrument belonged to a later period.

How to extend

A student can contrast the known date of formal minimum-wage legislation (1948) with 1881 to infer that the 1881 Act likely did not aim to fix wages, and then verify by reading the 1881 Act.

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Consider the following statements : I. The Charter Act of 1853 abolished East India Company’s monopoly of India trade. II. Under the Government of India Act 1858, the British Parliament abolished the East India Company altogether and undertook the responsibility of ruling India directly. Which of the following statements given above is/are correct?

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Explanation

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SIMILAR QUESTIONS

Consider the following statements: 1. Dutch opened a factory at Pulicat in 1609. 2. English built a factory at Masulipatam in1611. Which of the statements given above is/ are correct ?