Narayan Meghaji Lokhande

Narayan Meghaji Lokhande
Born	1848 Thane, Maharashtra, India
Died	1897 Mumbai, India
Movement	Trade Union Movement in India

Narayan Meghaji Lokhande (Marathi: नारायण मेघाजी लोखंडे) (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 post stamp with his photo in 2005.

Narayan Meghaji Lokhande was a prominent colleague of Mahatma Jyotirao Phule. Lokhande is acclaimed as the Father of the Trade Union Movement in India. From 1880 onwards he took over the management of Deenbandhu which was published from Bombay. Along with Lokhande, Jyotirao also addressed the meetings of the textile workers in Bombay. It is significant that before Jotirao and his colleagues Bhalekar and Lokhande tried to organise the peasants and the workers, no such attempt was made by any organisation to redress their grievances. Mahatma Phule started the first Indian Workers organization – 'Bombay Mill Hands Association', with the help of Shri. Narayan Meghaji Lokhande.

Some of the rights mill workers got because of N M Lokhande were:

In 3rd May 2005, the Government of India released a Postal Stamp to commemorate his work.

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