Mahatma Gandhi once quoted, “I call myself a labor because I take pride in calling myself a spinner, weaver, farmer and scavenger.” What he really meant was, there is no work in the world which can termed superior or inferior. Similarly, the labors or the working class people are the actual functionary of a country.
The seed of celebrating International Labor Day was sown in United States of America in the 19th century. However, the condition of Indian labors was not so much different from the USA as it was under British Rule.
History of How Labor Day came to be celebrated?
It has its origins in the labor union movement in the United States in the 19th century when the industrialists used to exploit the labor class and made them work up to 15 hours a day.
The working class people broke the chain of exploitation and demanded paid leaves and proper wages. The eight-hour day labor movement advocated eight hours for work, eight hours for recreation, and eight hours for rest.
First Labor day in India:
As in India the country witnessed the first celebration of Labor Day in 1923, in what was then Madras. Led by Singaravelar, leader of the Labor Kisan Party of Hindustan, two meetings were held, one at Triplicane Beach and one near the Madras High Court. It was at these meetings that a resolution was passed urging the British government to declare May 1 as Labour Day and also a government holiday. It was the first occasion in India on which the red flag was used.
India is a developing country and it relies upon its labors, farmers for its development. However, despite of introduction of numerous labor welfare schemes like Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY), Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM) in by the government of India whether in the past or at the present, the conditions has not been improved to the optimum extent.
According to experts, workers at the bottom of the labor hierarchy have come to accept labor abuses and dangerous conditions, often unaware of the risks they face on a daily basis. In an environment where workers can lose their jobs for speaking out, most keep quiet to survive.
News of workplace accidents appears every day in local media. Few of the headlines read: Fifteen miners are buried inside an illegal coalmine after a flood. An explosion in a shop results in 13 deaths. A building under construction collapses and kills seven workers. It a steady stream so routine that it only attracts attention when the figures are catastrophic (like the 1984 Bhopal disaster, in which a gas leak resulted in the deaths of 25,000 people).
In 2014, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), of India reported 5650 farmers’ suicide. It accounted for 4.3% of the total suicides in India.
However, in the recent times schemes have been amended to improve the conditions of the labor of India: The Ministry of Labor and Employment has taken a number of legislative initiatives in labor laws during the last 3 years. Such initiatives include:
Amendment to the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965 by which eligibility limit for payment of bonus enhanced from Rs 10,000/- to Rs. 21,000/- per month
Maternity Benefit Amendment Act, 2017, increases the paid maternity leave from 12 weeks to 26 weeks and the schemes go on.
The government of India on this International Labor Day should ensure that the actual functionaries of India live a contented and peaceful life.