Narayan Meghaji Lokhande

Narayan Meghaji Lokhande born in 1848 in Thane, Maharashtra, is the father of the trade union movement in India. He was born into a poor family but that did not stop him from achieving great things. He belonged to ‘phulmali’ community. His family was in the business of flowers for their livelihood so he followed the same. He was greatly influenced by Bahujan icon Mahatma Jyotirao Phule and his followers. During schooling years, he was engaged in social activities in Bombay. He worked as a storekeeper in a textile mill in Bombay.

Lokhande was an active activist for Labours in India. He was considered as the leader of Bombay Mills Labours. He fought with the British Government for the rights of labors. And yes, the holiday of Sunday is also his gift to the labors and now for all of us.

In the 19th Century, during the British Rule, the mill workers in India used to work hard for all seven days of a week. They didn’t get any kind of leave to get rest. Whereas, the British officials and workers would go to church every Sunday and offer their prayers buy there was no such clause for the Indian mill workers.

Thus Narayanji made a proposal in front of the government (British) for a weekly holiday to be given to the workers to take rest and fulfill their odd works. But the Britishers denied. While, Narayan continued the protest for the weekly leave. After seven years of protest and struggle, the British Government declared Sunday as a holiday on 10th June 1890 for the mill workers. And from there, the trend of Sunday being a holiday started in India. 

Narayan Meghaji Lokhande (1848–1897) was a pioneer of the labour movement in India. He is remembered not only for ameliorating the working conditions of textile mill-hands in the 19th century but also for his courageous initiatives on caste and communal issues. The Government of India issued a postage stamp with his photograph in 2005