After Noida protests, Delhi workers seek wage revision amid rising distress

Toiling under the already intense summer heat, Moin Ali sits and sifts through a slew of plastic bottles in front of him. It is only the second sack he has opened in the past 30 minutes, and he still has five more to go. Normally, this would not be an issue, but he says getting accustomed to the heat is taking longer this year.

“Normally, I would get used to it by March itself, but this time, it was much more tolerable. I was caught off guard with how hot April has already got,” he sighs, continuing to sift through the bottles in a rhythm he calls “art”.

Ali, empanelled with the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) for years, works alongside several neighbours engaged in waste collection, recycling and compaction at a slum cluster in Vasant Kunj, South Delhi. Most are contractual workers who have struggled to sustain their livelihoods.

He was earning around Rs 10,000 a decade ago; this has now risen to about Rs 19,000 a month. While he considers the income sufficient for basic survival, recent developments have made life more difficult.

“There is a war underway which has rendered us invisible,” he said. He added that they are unable to access gas supply due to lack of proof of residence after electricity disconnections. “We have always received our cylinders from third parties but even they have hiked the prices to insane numbers.”

Ranjit Sarkar faces similar hardships. Inflation and rising prices linked to the West Asian conflict have strained his finances.

“Most of us are on contract so that means many of us are left without jobs on certain instances,” he said. He added that there have been times when he had to stay at home or search for work elsewhere because the MCD did not renew his contract, which worsened his situation.

Minimum wages see marginal rise

According to the April 2025 order revising minimum wages, the Delhi Labour Department fixed monthly wages at Rs 18,456 for unskilled workers, Rs 20,371 for semi-skilled workers, and Rs 22,411 for skilled workers. This translates to Rs 710, Rs 784 and Rs 862 per day respectively.

For unskilled workers, the increase is minimal, amounting to just 2.1% over 2024 levels, largely due to a rise in the Dearness Allowance (DA).

In 2024, unskilled workers’ monthly wages were raised from Rs 17,494 to Rs 18,066. Semi-skilled workers saw an increase from Rs 19,279 to Rs 19,929, while skilled workers’ wages rose from Rs 21,215 to Rs 21,917.

The Delhi Government typically revises minimum wages by April 1, but this year the delay has extended beyond two weeks, causing anxiety among workers.

Non-payment remains a concern

Azad Mehra, Field Assistant with the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) and a union leader with the Centre for Indian Trade Unions (CITU), said irregular payments remain a persistent issue.

“While contractual workers have been provided some safeguards, these come at the cost of their safety as well,” he said.

He explained that under the new labour code, payments are often calculated on a daily basis, which can lead to discrepancies. “This sometimes leads to the supervisor not logging the number of hours worked… Sometimes they do not log the hours worked, and only record it when the work is finished,” he said.

He added that this effectively reduces wages to output-based payments. “That comes down to bonded labour, with the worker only being paid for the output at the end of a project rather than the hours they put into it.”

Mehra also pointed to a lack of transparency in wage disbursement. “We have been asking the Labour Department to revise their minimum wage threshold for quite some time now, and till now there has been no development,” he said. He added that uncertainty over daily work availability further compounds the problem.

Calls for wage revision grow

Nirmal Gorana, Convenor of the National Campaign Committee for Eradication of Bonded Labour (NCCEBL), has urged the Delhi Government to revise wages without delay.

In a letter, he wrote, “We request that, based on the guidelines given by the Supreme Court regarding the calculation of wages, the new minimum wage rates for Delhi’s workers should be announced immediately so that unorganised and migrant workers can receive their rightful dues.”

Gorana warned that delays could deprive migrant workers of benefits. “The migrant workers who are working as daily wage labourers will not be able to receive the increased wages… because these daily wage labourers and migrant workers will have moved from their current work sites to other places, which will cause them financial loss,” he said.

Protests erupt in Noida

Tensions escalated on April 13 when protests by factory workers demanding wage hikes turned violent in Noida, Gautam Buddha Nagar district.

Workers gathered in large numbers across locations, including Sector 62, raising concerns over stagnant wages and rising living costs. The situation escalated as some protesters allegedly pelted stones and set a vehicle on fire.

Similar incidents were reported from Greater Noida, while widespread traffic disruptions forced authorities to impose diversions.

Protesters accused employers of exploitation, irregular salary payments and low wages. Meanwhile, Haryana has set minimum wages at Rs 15,220 for unskilled workers, Rs 16,780 for semi-skilled workers and Rs 18,500 for skilled workers.

The Uttar Pradesh Government has approved an interim 21% wage hike in Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddha Nagar districts as unrest spreads across the region.