Dignity of Labour - Present Scenario in India

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s star-like reception in Australia has been all over the media, and one of the recent inspirational slogans he echoed in Sydney was that he admired the Australian ethos of “dignity of labour”.

When he returns to India, he should effectively implement the law against manual scavenging in India. Indeed, there is no dignity in such degrading slavery. Human Rights Watch has raised this issue in a 2014 report, and the BBC, among other western media outlets, has covered it. It is ironic that Mr. Modi gave this speech after unveiling Mahatma Gandhi’s statue in Brisbane. A first step to bringing dignity to India's exploited and demeaned citizens is the reappraisal of its past “saints”, instead of erecting and worshipping their idols.

Types of Labour

Labour is of two kinds intellectual labor and manual labor. But whatever it is, it has a dignity of its own. Some think manual labor as an inferior affair. But manual labor is as dignified as the highest intellectual labor. The people who work with their hands are as much useful as those works with their brain.

All great men used to do various kinds of manual labor. Mahatma Gandhi preferred to do all his personal works of his own. He always respected and treated everyone equally. He had the same respect in his eyes for a manual laborer that he had for the most educated intellect.

A Moral Story on the “Dignity of Labor”

Once upon a time in the city of Naples in Italy, there lived a young boy of about eleven years, with his mother. They were quite poor and so both of them had to work, to earn money only t buy their daily needs. The boy worked in a factory, but he loved to sing. In the “thick-tock” of the machines he heard music. In the chirping of the birds and the gurgling of the brooks, he heard the wonderful melodies of nature. He spent all his spare time in learning to read musical notes, practicing on an old piano, and singing songs.

One day, he hopefully approached a music teacher and asked him to help him become a great singer. The teacher made him sing only once and said, “You are hopeless! You have no vice at all! You can never become a great singer”. These words were like a blow across the face of the young lad. They had a crushing effect on him. The poor boy felt like giving up all his efforts. Son he began to wander through the streets of Naples with his fellow teen-age factory workers. 

It broke the heart of his mother to see him so disappointed. She had faith in him. She knew what was good for her son. One evening, after dinner she put her hands around his neck and said, “I love the way you sing. Why don’t we both sing our favorite song? It has been many days since I heard you sing”. So saying, she took him to the piano. He played their favorite tune and soon the house was vibrating with the musical notes and the sounds of their singing. They both thoroughly enjoyed it. The mother said, “Why don’t we start you on music lessons? I know a great music teacher who will train you to become an expert. I am sure some day you too will earn fame as a great singer”. The encouraging words of his mother had a magical effect on the boy. He felt he was alive again.

To prove her complete faith in her son the mother made all sorts of sacrifices. She even went barefoot in the cold winter months because she had to pay for his singing lessons. Her constant encouragement, faith in his talent and sacrifices motivated her son to regain his self-confidence and he eventually became one of the greatest singers of all times! His name was Enrico Caruso!

If you go to any Juvenile Court in any part of India today, you will see how day after day; young, fine-looking lads are sentenced to four, five or even more years in the reformatory School. These young men could have been saved form such a disgrace, could have led happy meaningful lives if only they were encouraged to keep busy. But they wasted most of their time wandering in the streets, picking-pocketing, making fun of girls or elderly people, and finally these young men became embittered and angry with no future for themselves and of no use to their country.

Why does this happen? It is because they are idle. Some are idle because after school their parents leave them completely free to do what they please, to go where they please and to waste their time, because the parents themselves are busy at work and come home late. Today, due to the high cost of living and increasing wants, both the parents have to work. If there are no grandparents at home, the children sometimes tend to get out of control. Mostly, they join street-gangs, where they learn to use filthy language, bully others, and develop bad characters. Some other children are idle because they just sit around day-dreaming or watching the TV hour after hour, wasting their talents and spoiling their health.

At this stage of your life, the most important things are to avoid being idle and being bored. ‘An ideal mind is a devil’s workshop’. It means that if your minds I not occupied doing things, creating something, studying you lessons, or pursuing your hobby, your mind will be filled with undesirable, anti-social thoughts that will land you into trouble.

Importance of Dignity of Labour in India

A nation cannot prosper materially if the people are not laborious. Labor is at the source of the power of nation. A nation that cannot work hard, nation that does not respect the dignity of manual labour lags behind the progressive nations. After the industrial revolution the people of Europe learnt to work with tools and machines. They manufactured many things and increased the wealth of the country. The material prosperity of a country depends on the progress of its agriculture, industry and trade. Ordinary laborers work in the fields, mines, mills and factories. Their labour leads to the prosperity and power of the country. Thus work is power. For this reason manual labour should be respected and given importance.

All educated men could not get service. So there arose the problem of unemployment.
Pressed by economic difficulties, educated young men were forced to change their outlook.
Some were ready to work as laborers with tools and machines.

But there was not enough opening for them.At present the outlook of educated men has been completely changed. They acknowledge the significance of  manual labour. Even educated young men of upper class do not hesitate to do all sorts of laborious work. They have felt that there is dignity of labour. They must labour to earn their bread instead of being burdens to others. An ordinary laborer without education is better than an idle educated man because he earns his bread with the sweat of his brow. His work is as sacred as to worship God.

When the economic condition of our country became serious.

Hence, there can be no proper development in agriculture and industry, trades and commerce in our country without stressing on the dignity of Manual Labour.

Manual labour keeps us physically fit. It fosters a spirit of co-operation, self-help and thereby promotes moral growth.

LABOUR DAY - 1ST MAY

It is a national and bank holiday that corresponds to the International Workers’ Day that is celebrated in many countries around the world proclaiming the international labour movement.

The history of May/Labour Day goes back to 1886 in Chicago, USA, when a gathering of people during a general strike for the eight-hour workday became violent. A bomb was thrown into the crowd, police began to shoot and dozens of people were killed or injured.

Over the next few years, an international movement began with demonstrations and riots occurring each year on May Day. In 1904, the International Socialist Conference met in Amsterdam and called on “all Social Democratic Party organisations and trade unions of all countries to demonstrate energetically on May First for the legal establishment of the eight-hour day, for the class demands of the proletariat, and for universal peace.”

In India, the first Labour Day, or May Day, was celebrated in 1923 in Chennai. Today around India, organisations and trade unions arrange pageants, children enter contests so they can understand the importance of fairness for workers, and political leaders make speeches.

What is Dignity of Labour?

The dignity of labour, also known as the dignity of work, is the philosophy that all types of jobs are respected equally, and no occupation is considered superior. Though one's occupation for his or her livelihood involves physical work or menial labour, it is held that the job carries dignity compared to the jobs that involve more intellect than body. Social reformers such as Basava and his contemporary Sharanas, as well as Mahatma Gandhi, were prominent advocates of the dignity of labour.


The Dignity of Labor is one of the major themes in Christian ethics,and as such, it is upheld by the Anglican Communion, in Catholic social teaching, in Methodist principles, and in Reformed theology. In Roman Catholicism, usually titled "The Dignity of work and the rights of workers" the affirmation of the Dignity of Human Labor is found in several Papal encyclicals, most notably St. John Paul II's Laborem Exercens published September 15, 1981.