New Delhi, May 1 (IANS): Paying tribute to the working class on May Day, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Friday called for ensuring dignity of labour to those whose "hard work and sweat" contributed to the building of the nation.

"Today we pay tribute to the millions of workers whose hard work, sweat and tears have gone into building our nation," he said in a message on International Labour Day.

"No country can aspire to greatness without ensuring that the people who build the nation are partners in its prosperity and success."

Those who work in our factories, in our fields, at our construction sites, in our mines and in enterprises, big and small, across our country should be assured dignity of labour and a decent quality of life, he added.

Gandhi said that the children of the working class should also have every opportunity to choose the life they want to live.

He called for renewing the resolve to "strive for an India in which every citizen rich or poor, farmer and labourer, irrespective of the circumstance of their birth can hold their head high and live and work with dignity and honour".