Congress Ministries: Labour Policy, Social Welfare and Evaluation
Modern History › Congress After Civil Disobedience and the Provincial Ministries · Topic 21.5
The Congress ministries sought to advance workers' interests while keeping industrial peace, favouring compulsory arbitration before strikes and treating militant protest as a law-and-order problem, which left critics dissatisfied. They also made welfare reforms on prohibition, Harijan welfare, education and planning. After 28 months, the ministries resigned in October 1939 on the outbreak of the Second World War.
6 min read · UPSC Prelims · History · Congress After Civil Disobedience and the Provincial Ministries
At a Glance
- Labour approach Advance workers’ interests, keep industrial peace, compulsory arbitration
- Welfare Prohibition, Harijan welfare, education, khadi, prisons, planning
- Mass activity Literacy campaigns, Congress panchayats, grievance committees
- End Ministries resigned in October 1939
- Exam link UPSC Prelims, Modern History: Congress After Civil Disobedience and the Provincial Ministries
Where Does It Fit?
This is the fifth and last topic of the category on the Congress after civil disobedience and the provincial ministries. The previous topic covered civil liberties and agrarian reforms. This topic covers labour, welfare and an evaluation of the ministries. The next category begins with the Haripura and Tripuri sessions. Previous topic: Congress Ministries: Civil Liberties and Agrarian Reforms.
What Was the Labour Policy?
The basic approach was to advance workers’ interests while promoting industrial peace. This was to be done by reducing strikes as far as possible and by advocating compulsory arbitration before striking, through the established conciliation machinery. The ministries tried to create goodwill between labour and capital through mediation, while also trying to improve workers’ conditions and secure wage increases.
They treated militant trade union protests as law and order problems and acted as mediators as far as possible. This approach was largely successful but not so in Bombay, and leftist critics were not satisfied. In general the ministries used Section 144 and arrested leaders. Nehru was unhappy about these repressive measures but in public supported the ministries to protect them from petty criticism. Gandhi was against militant and violent methods but stood for the political education of the masses; he felt the Congress’s popular base should not erode and appealed to Congressmen not to resort often to colonial laws and machinery. The earlier labour movement is in Spread of Socialist and Marxist Ideas, Youth Activism and Trade Unionism.
What Social Welfare Measures Were Taken?
- Prohibition was imposed in certain areas.
- Welfare of Harijans was promoted through temple entry, use of public facilities, scholarships and more jobs in government service and the police.
- Attention was given to primary, technical and higher education and to public health and sanitation.
- Khadi was encouraged through subsidies and other steps, and indigenous enterprises were encouraged.
- Prison reforms were undertaken.
- Efforts were made to develop planning through the National Planning Committee set up under Congress president Subhash Bose in 1938.
Outside the legislatures, the Congress also ran mass literacy campaigns, Congress police stations and panchayats, and Grievance Committees that presented mass petitions to the government, and it supported the states’ people’s movements. Gandhi’s campaign for Harijans is in Gandhi’s Harijan Campaign and Thoughts on Caste.
How Should the 28 Months Be Evaluated?
By 1939 internal strife, opportunism and hunger for power had begun to surface among Congressmen, but they used council work to their advantage to a great extent. The 28 months of Congress rule were significant for several reasons.
| Gain | Detail |
|---|---|
| Self-government and change | The contention that Indian self-government was necessary for radical social transformation was confirmed |
| Power without co-option | Congressmen showed that a movement could use State power for its ends without being co-opted |
| Order | The ministries were able to control communal riots |
| Bureaucracy | The morale of the bureaucracy fell |
| Hostile elements | Council work helped neutralise many erstwhile hostile elements such as landlords |
| Preview of independence | People could see the shape of things to come if independence were won |
| Fitness to rule | Administration by Indians weakened the myth that Indians were not fit to rule |
The ministries resigned in October 1939 after the outbreak of the Second World War. The resignation is described in Congress Offer, Wardha Meeting and Resignation of Congress Ministries.
What Were the Strains and Criticisms?
The large Congress victory aroused the hopes of the industrial working class, and there was greater militancy and industrial unrest in Bombay, Gujarat, the United Provinces and Bengal, at a time when the Congress was moving closer to Indian capitalists. This produced what appeared to be an anti-labour shift in the Congress’s attitude, which led to the Bombay Industrial Disputes Act of 1938, called the Bombay Trade Disputes Act in some books. The Congress leadership also faced a dilemma over the princely states: whether to support the Prajamandal movement for greater democracy.
The All India Muslim League, annoyed that the Congress had not shared power with it, set up the Pirpur Committee in 1938 to report on the atrocities supposedly committed by the Congress ministries. The committee charged the Congress with interference in religious rites, the suppression of Urdu in favour of Hindi, denial of proper representation and oppression of Muslims in the economic sphere. These are the committee’s allegations and not established findings. The Congress was forced to realise that being in power and running the administration was not easy, and that all sections had expectations that could not be met at once.
As an analytical point, the period shows both the usefulness and the cost of office: it gave the Congress experience, prestige and a chance to apply its programme, but it exposed the gap between a movement’s promises and a government’s constraints, and it strained relations with labour and with the Muslim League. The wider crisis that followed is in Haripura and Tripuri Sessions and Subhash Bose’s Views.
Why Is This Topic Important?
- Overall evaluation Gains and limits of Congress rule are a standard Mains question
- Pirpur Committee A stock fact on the League’s charges against the ministries
- Planning Committee An early step in economic planning
What Came Next?
The next category begins with the Haripura and Tripuri sessions of the Congress and Subhash Bose’s views. Next topic: Haripura and Tripuri Sessions and Subhash Bose’s Views.
Key People and Terms
- Compulsory arbitration Settling disputes by arbitration before a strike
- Section 144 A law allowing authorities to ban assembly
- National Planning Committee Set up in 1938 under Subhash Bose
- Prajamandal Movements in princely states for democratic rights
- Pirpur Committee The Muslim League’s 1938 committee on the ministries
- Grievance Committees Bodies that presented mass petitions
Exam Corner
Points to Remember
- Labour: compulsory arbitration before strikes; Section 144 used.
- National Planning Committee: 1938, under Bose.
- Pirpur Committee: 1938, by the Muslim League.
- Ministries resigned in October 1939.
- Bombay law of 1938 seen as anti-labour.
Do Not Confuse With
- Pirpur Committee and Congress ministries The Pirpur report was a League charge-sheet, not a finding
- Planning Committee 1938 and later Planning Commission Different bodies, separated by years
- Labour approach and leftist critique Mediation and arbitration versus militant action
Memory Hook
Arbitration for labour, planning for the nation, and the Pirpur Report against the Congress.
Mains Angle
Questions ask for an evaluation of the ministries. These points add depth.
- Gains Experience, prestige and reforms
- Limits Labour unrest and the zamindari question
- Communal strain Pirpur Committee
A Question You May Face
An original practice question, not a past paper question.
“Evaluate the performance of the Congress ministries between 1937 and 1939.”
How to Answer
- Policies Labour and welfare.
- Gains Experience and confidence.
- Limits Strains with labour and the League.
- Conclude Resignation in October 1939.
GS Relevance
Frequently Asked Questions
What was the labour policy of the Congress ministries?
The ministries tried to advance workers' interests while keeping industrial peace, favouring compulsory arbitration before strikes and mediation between labour and capital. They treated militant protests as law and order problems and used Section 144, which left leftist critics dissatisfied.
What social welfare measures did the Congress ministries take?
They imposed prohibition in certain areas, promoted Harijan welfare through temple entry and scholarships, expanded education, health and sanitation, subsidised khadi, reformed prisons, encouraged indigenous enterprises and set up the National Planning Committee under Subhash Bose in 1938.
What were the main gains of the 28 months of Congress rule?
The ministries showed that a movement could use State power without being co-opted, controlled communal riots, lowered the bureaucracy's morale, neutralised hostile elements, gave people a preview of independence, and weakened the myth that Indians were unfit to rule.
What was the Pirpur Committee?
The Muslim League set up the Pirpur Committee in 1938 to report on alleged Congress atrocities. It charged the Congress with interfering in religious rites, suppressing Urdu in favour of Hindi, denying representation and oppressing Muslims economically. These were allegations by the League.
When did the Congress ministries resign and why?
The Congress ministries resigned in October 1939, after the outbreak of the Second World War, which ended about 28 months of Congress rule in the provinces and began a new phase of the national movement.
PYQ Practice — Statement Analysis
1 The National Planning Committee was set up in 1938 under Subhash Bose.
He was Congress president that year.
2 The Pirpur Committee was set up by the Congress in 1938.
The Muslim League set it up.
3 The Congress ministries resigned in October 1939.
The Second World War had begun.
4 The ministries favoured compulsory arbitration before strikes.
They treated militant union protests as law and order problems.
5 Prohibition was imposed in certain areas under Congress rule.
Harijan welfare was also promoted.
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