Uttar Pradesh government announced A temporary hike in the minimum wage of about 21% for factory workers in Gautam Buddha Nagar and Ghaziabad on Tuesday, days after escalating protests in Noida’s industrial belt left dozens of vehicles torched, more than 350 people arrested, and at least five police personnel injured. But even as it moved to address the basic demand of the workers, the state government alleged a conspiracy behind the furore – citing Pakistan, Naxalism and “anti-national forces”.
The protests, which began on April 10 at the Hosiery Complex in Noida Phase 2, have been escalating for months. Workers earn between $11000 and $15,000 views per month – among the lowest in the National Capital Region Neighboring state Haryana is raising its minimum wage by 35% in the first week of April $14000 to $19,000. Workers doing similar work across state lines wanted the same thing, hence the central demand was a monthly minimum wage. $20,000.
In one unit the motivation was only for notice of a pay increase $340-360 per month. Some of the workforce went on strike by April 10, and by Monday, April 13, more than 40,000 workers took to the streets across more than 80 locations in Noida’s industrial areas, police officials said. Cars were set on fire and police fired tear gas.
Workers describe exploitation
Workers spoke of systematic underpayment and abuse of working hours.
Tolaram, a second-stage garment factory worker who has been in the industry for five years, said his salary has just gone up. $2000 at that time, l $13,000. “My salary runs out by the 10th of every month,” he said. “The government does not pay us. We get our salaries from factory owners, who give us pennies for our hard work.”
Mohini Pal, 27, who works in an export company in Sector 57, said she is earning money $10,275 per month and you do overtime for which you are not paid. She added: “Factory owners are exploiting us.” $1350 is deducted from her salary if she takes one day off.
Sangeeta, another worker, described the production targets as so punitive that workers could not step away from the machines to drink water or use the bathrooms.
Rambha Devi claimed that she was paid only 21 hours of overtime despite completing 115 hours, $$2,739 was withheld from her salary as punishment for participating in the strike.
Another worker said: “We can’t even buy a bike, and these guys buy BMWs and Mercedes cars every month.”
The government is responding
On Tuesday, a high-level committee constituted by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath of the BJP government raised the interim wages. Unskilled workers will gain now $13,690 instead of $11313; Semi-skilled workers $15,059 instead of $12445; And skilled workers $16868 instead of $13,940. The increase is effective April 1.
The workers described it as inadequate, and still below their capacity level $20,000 applications even for the skilled category. Therefore, the protests continued on Tuesday.
Before the pay hike, in a statement after a late-night review meeting in Lucknow on Sunday, Yogi Adityanath said, “Naxalism in the country is now almost over, but attempts to revive it could be part of a larger conspiracy. There is a possibility that misguided and subversive elements are involved in some of the recent protests.”
He ordered the authorities to identify anyone “pretending to be a workers’ representative.”
Labor Minister Anil Rajbhar went further and pointed out the recent arrest of four suspects in Noida and Meerut for their alleged links with dealers in Pakistan. He said the protests appeared to be planned to “destabilize the state.”
Police said social media accounts and WhatsApp groups had been created in the previous days to “mislead” protesters. FIRs have been registered against two X handles, with more than 50 suspected “bot accounts” identified.
From the opposition bloc, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said: “Before discrediting the labor movement by linking it with Naxalism, the government should explain what it did in the last 10 years until such circumstances arose. If you cannot heal the workers’ wounds, at least don’t sprinkle salt on them.”
He also mocked whether the state intelligence agency was busy campaigning in West Bengal, where elections are being held, “instead of monitoring Noida”.
Rahul points to labor laws and global inflation
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, in a post on the X website, framed the crisis in broader terms, linking the rising costs of living to the US-Israeli war on Iran, which has disrupted global fuel supply chains. He said that the burden fell entirely on daily wage workers and not on the shoulders of major industrialists.
He criticized the central government’s implementation of four new labor laws in November 2025 as well, which he said led to the working day being extended to 12 hours without adequate consultation.
“A worker who works 12-hour shifts a day but borrows money to pay his children’s school fees – is his request unreasonable?” He wrote, adding: “I stand with every worker who is the backbone of this nation and has been treated as a burden by this government.”
The protests are still continuing as of Tuesday evening, with workers saying they have not received any official communication from factory owners about the revised wage structure, even after the government’s announcement.
