Defence
India's first trade union in the proper sense of the term was:
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Answer: Option D — The Madras Labour Union
Detailed Solution
The Madras Labour Union was founded in April 1918 in Madras (now Chennai) by B. P. Wadia, a leader of the Theosophical Society and an associate of Annie Besant, with the help of Thiru. V. Kalyanasundaram (Thiru Vi Ka) and others. It is regarded as India's first organised trade union in the modern sense, with regular membership and subscriptions. It was formed mainly among the textile workers of the Buckingham and Carnatic Mills in Madras.
Earlier labour organisations:
The Bombay Mill Hands Association was set up in 1890 by N. M. Lokhande, who is called the father of the labour movement in India. However, it was more of a welfare and petition body than a proper trade union, as it had no formal membership or funds.
Other early bodies included the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants of India and Burma (1897) and the Printers' Union of Calcutta (1905).
Later milestones of the labour movement:
1918: Mahatma Gandhi led the Ahmedabad mill workers' strike, which led to the formation of the Ahmedabad Textile Labour Association (Majoor Mahajan Sangh) in 1920, with Anasuya Sarabhai as a leader.
1920: the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) was formed on 31 October 1920 in Bombay. Lala Lajpat Rai was its first president, and Joseph Baptista its vice-president.
1926: the Indian Trade Unions Act was passed, which allowed trade unions to be registered and gave them legal protection.
1929: the Meerut Conspiracy Case was launched against communist and trade union leaders.
1947: the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) was formed.
Today, India's labour laws have been consolidated into four Labour Codes (on wages, industrial relations, social security, and occupational safety and health), passed in 2019-2020, which came into force in November 2025.
International Labour Day (May Day) is celebrated on 1 May. In India, it was first celebrated in Madras in 1923 by Singaravelu Chettiar.
Why not the other options?
- ✗AITUC (1920) was the first all-India federation of trade unions, not the first trade union.
- ✗The Bombay Mill Hands Association (1890) was an earlier welfare body, not a proper union.
- ✗The Textile Labour Association, Ahmedabad (1920), was formed after the Madras Labour Union.
Quick tip
Remember: First proper trade union = Madras Labour Union (1918, B. P. Wadia); first labour body = Bombay Mill Hands Association (1890, N. M. Lokhande); AITUC = 1920 (Lala Lajpat Rai); Trade Unions Act = 1926.
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Firsts in India & World — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Firsts in India & World, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers the first persons and events in India and the world: the first Indian to win a Nobel Prize, the first woman to hold major offices, the first to climb Everest or reach space, and India's first institutions, newspapers, railways and satellites. It also covers the largest, longest, highest and smallest records in India and the world. These are pure memory questions, so revise them as short lists by theme: first women, first in sports, first in science and space, and first in governance. Be careful with the exact wording, such as 'first Indian' versus 'first person of Indian origin', or 'first woman President' versus 'first woman Prime Minister', since options are often designed to exploit this. Practise the firsts in India and the world questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.