Dutta Samant

Dr. Dattatray Samant (aka Datta Samant), and popularly referred to as Doctorsaheb (21 November 1932 – 16 January 1997) was an Indian politician and trade union leader, who is most famous for leading 200–300 thousand textile mill workers in the city of Bombay (now Mumbai) on a year-long strike in 1982, which triggered the closure of most of the textile mills in the city.

Samant grew up in Deobag on the Konkan coast of Maharashtra, hailing from a middle-class Marathi background. He was a qualified M.B.B.S. doctor from G.S. Seth Medical College and K.E.M. hospital, Mumbai and practised as a general physician in Pantnagar locality of Ghatkopar. The struggle of his patients, most of whom were industry labourers inspired him to fight for their cause. He spent much of his early years in the locality of Ghatkopar in Mumbai, in the state of Maharashtra. From the early 20th century, the city's economy was characterised by major textile mills, the base of India's thriving textile and garments industry. Hundreds of thousands of people from all over India were employed in working in the mills. Although a trained medical doctor, Samant was active in trade union activities amongst mill workers. He joined the Indian National Congress and its affiliated Indian National Trade Union Congress. Gaining popularity amongst city workers, Samant name was popularly known as Doctorsaheb.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the Mumbai-Thane industrial belt witnessed successive working class strikes and protests, with multiple trade unions competing for the allegiance of workers and political control. These primarily included George Fernandes, the Centre for Indian Trade Unions. Samant rose to become one of the most prominent INTUC leaders, and grew increasingly militant in his political convictions and activism. Samant enjoyed success in organising strikes and winning substantial wage hikes from companies. He ignored the company's statistics and business information, and consistently refused to settle on compromise concessions. In 1972 elections, he was elected to the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha, or legislative assembly on a Congress ticket, and served as a legislator. Samant was arrested in 1975 during the Indian Emergency owing to his reputation as a militant unionist, despite belonging to the Congress party of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Samant's popularity increased with his release in 1977 and the failure of the Janata Party coalition, with which many rival unions had been affiliated. This increased his popularity and widespread reputation for putting workers and their interests before politics.

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