Deben Sen (1897/1899? – 19 April 1971) was an Indian trade union activist and politician.

Early life

The son of Dwarikanath Sen, of Faridpur (now in Bangladesh), Deben Sen joined the

civil disobedience movement The Salt March, also known as the Salt Satyagraha, Dandi March and the Dandi Satyagraha, was an act of nonviolent civil disobedience in colonial India led by Mahatma Gandhi. The twenty-four day march lasted from 12 March to 6 April 1930 as a di ...

and was arrested at

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

in 1930, when he was a post graduate student.Samsad Bangali Charitabhidhan (Biographical Dictionary), Chief Editor: Subodh Chandra Sengupta, Editor: Anjali Bose, 4th edition 1998, , Vol I, pages 218-19, , Sishu Sahitya Samsad Pvt. Ltd., 32A Acharya Prafulla Chandra Road, Kolkata.

Trade Union activities

Deben Sen was a very effective trade union organiser, spreading his activities in Calcutta of the mid-thirties across railways, tramways and electric supply organisations. In 1937, he organized a historic jute industry strike. In 1956, he led a strike of 56,000 workers in Asansol for 27 days. He visited many countries in connection with trade union work and was leader of the Indian delegation to the London Trade Union Conference in 1948.

Involvement in politics

He was elected to the

Bengal Legislative Assembly The Bengal Legislative Assembly () was the largest legislature in British India, serving as the lower chamber of the legislature of Bengal (now Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal). It was established under the Government of India Ac ...

in 1946 on a Congress ticket. In 1951, he joined the Krishak Mazdoor Praja Party. He was organizing secretary of

INTUC Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) is a national trade union in India. It was founded on 3 May 1947 and is affiliated with the International Trade Union Confederation. According to provisional statistics from the Ministry of Labour, ...

, chairman of the West Bengal branch of the

Hind Mazdoor Sabha The Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS) was formed by the Socialists in 1948 but has little real connection with the Socialist Party. It is one of the least political and most pragmatic trade-union federations in India. The HMS is affiliated with the Inte ...

and leader of the

Praja Socialist Party The Praja Socialist Party, abbreviated as PSP, was an Indian political party. It was founded when the Socialist Party, led by Jayaprakash Narayan, Rambriksh Benipuri, Acharya Narendra Deva and Basawon Singh (Sinha), merged with the Kisan Mazdoo ...

and

Samyukta Socialist Party Samyukta Socialist Party (; SSP), was a political party in India from 1964 to 1972. SSP was formed through a split in the Praja Socialist Party (PSP) in 1964. In 1972, SSP was reunited with PSP, forming the Socialist Party. The General Secret ...

. He was actively associated with the Asian Conference in support of Indonesian independence. He was elected to the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...

in 1967 from the

Asansol (Lok Sabha constituency) Asansol Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 543 parliamentary constituencies in India. The constituency centres on Asansol in West Bengal. All the seven assembly segments of No. 40 Asansol Lok Sabha constituency are in Paschim Bardhaman distri ...

References

Lok Sabha members from West Bengal Trade unionists from West Bengal 1971 deaths Year of birth uncertain Samyukta Socialist Party politicians Praja Socialist Party politicians {{WestBengal-politician-stub