Read the passage and answer the following questions.
Factory production began in India in the early part of the 1860s. The general pattern of trade set up by the colonial regime was one under which raw materials were procured from India and goods manufactured in the United Kingdom were marketed in the colony. The factories were established in the port town of Calcutta (Kolkata), Bombay (Mumbai) and later in Madras (Chennai) also. Tea plantations in Assam were established as early as 1839. Labour was cheap as the colonial government did not regulate either wages or working conditions. Though trade unions were established later, workers did protest for increase in wages. For example, jute workers in Calcutta and textile workers in Ahmedabad. The first trade union was established in April 1918 in Madras by B. P. Wadia, a social worker and member of Theosophical Society.
During the same year Mahatma Gandhi founded the Textile Labour Association (TLA). In 1920 the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) was formed in Bombay with people from diverse ideologies. The main ideological groups were the communists led by S. A. Dange and M. N. Roy, the moderates lead by M. Joshi and V. V. Giri and the nationalists which involved Lala Lajpat Rai and J. L. Nehru. The colonial government became cautious in dealing with labour and passed the fourth Factories Act in 1922. And in 1926, the Trade Unions Act was passed which provided for registration of trade unions and proposed some regulations. In 1966-67 the economy suffered a major recession which lead to a decrease in production and consequently employment. The confrontation between the state and trade unions become active. During emergency in 1975- 77 the Government curbed all trade union activities. The worker's movement was very much part of the wider struggle for civil liberties.
Which of the following is a correct statement?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Goods were manufactured in United Kingdom
Option (1) Goods were manufactured in India — Incorrect. Under the colonial pattern of trade, India was the source of raw materials, not the place where the goods were made. The finished goods came from Britain and were sold in India.
Option (2) Goods were manufactured in United Kingdom — Correct. The colonial regime set up a pattern in which raw materials were procured from India and goods manufactured in the United Kingdom were marketed in the colony. India thus became both the supplier of raw materials and the market for British goods.
Option (3) Raw materials were manufactured in United Kingdom — Incorrect. Raw materials are what goods are made from; they are not manufactured. In this pattern they were procured from India and taken to Britain’s factories.
Option (4) Raw materials were procured from United Kingdom — Incorrect. This turns the pattern round. The raw materials were procured from India, and it was the finished goods that came from the United Kingdom.
Note: The passage of Q1-Q5 is taken from the NCERT chapter ‘Social Movements’, the section ‘Class Based Movements’, where the workers’ movement is traced from the first factories to the trade unions. These two paragraphs carried five questions, so read the account of the workers’ movement line by line.
NCERT (2025-26): “Workers’ Movements … Factory production began in India in the early part of the 1860s. You will recall our discussion on the specific character of industrialisation in the colonial period. The general pattern of trade set up by the colonial regime was one under which raw materials were procured from India and goods manufactured in the United Kingdom were marketed in the colony. These factories were, thus established in the port towns of Calcutta (Kolkata) and Bombay (Mumbai). Later factories were also set up in Madras (Chennai). Tea plantations in Assam were established as early as in 1839.…” |