Worker protest resurfaces in Noida; SP, CPIM leaders stopped at borders, traffic hit

Police said they were stopped to maintain law and order and prevent “any kind of instigation” in the district

Tensions around worker unrest briefly resurfaced in Noida on Friday as political activity intensified at the Delhi-Noida borders, where delegations from opposition parties were stopped by police while attempting to enter the city to meet agitating workers, officials and leaders said.

Citing prohibitory orders, GB Nagar police stopped a Samajwadi Party delegation led by opposition leader Mata Prasad Pandey from entering Noida on the DND Flyway on Friday. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)

According to police, a protest was reported in Sector 8 around 9am, when a group of workers gathered outside a company. “Upon receiving information, a team along with senior police officials reached the spot and counselled them. They later dispersed and returned to work,” a senior police officer aware of Friday’s developments, requesting anonymity, said.

Officials said police personnel have been deployed outside companies across industrial areas in Noida and Greater Noida.

Additional commissioner of police (law and order) Rajeev Narayan Mishra said the situation appeared to have stemmed from a communication gap. “After brief counselling and clear communication, the situation was brought under control,” he said.

Mishra added that more than 6,000 police personnel have been deployed across over 100 locations in the district, with sensitive zones identified in Sectors 58, 63, Phase 1, Phase 2, and Kasna in Greater Noida. When HT visited industrial areas in Sector 63, factories were operational with visible police presence, and revised wage charts were displayed at factory gates.

“Factories in Noida have resumed operations with 100% workforce,” Mishra said.

Meanwhile, traffic movement was affected at the Delhi-Noida-Direct (DND) Flyway and the Chilla border between 10am and 11am as political leaders from multiple parties attempted to enter Noida.

A Samajwadi Party delegation, led by Leader of Opposition in the Uttar Pradesh assembly Mata Prasad Pandey, was stopped at the DND Flyway around noon and staged a brief protest. SP MLA Atul Pradhan alleged that workers had been subjected to excesses. “You see so many people have been arrested, so many have been detained by the police. These are helpless people who have faced injustice. We want to meet them and understand their concerns, but the government is stopping us. What is it trying to hide?” he said.

SP’s Noida metropolitan chief Ashray Gupta said prohibitory orders were cited by police. “We were stopped and taken to Police Lines, where senior officials told us that prohibitory orders have been imposed under Section 163, and we would not be allowed to proceed for the next two to three days.”

A Communist Party of India (Marxist) delegation led by general secretary M.A. Baby was also stopped at the Chilla border. “We want an inquiry into the police lathi-charge on the workers. We requested to meet the district magistrate, but no time was given,” Baby said, adding that protests could intensify if the administration did not respond.

Uttar Pradesh Congress president Ajay Rai, who was placed under house restrictions in Sector 52, criticised the police action. “The manner in which workers have been beaten and sent to jail is unfortunate, and we condemn it. Our demand is that workers’ wages should be increased and those jailed should be released unconditionally,” he said.

“They were stopped to maintain law and order and prevent any kind of instigation. Apart from this, Section 160 (unlawful assemblies) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita is already in force in the district,” Mishra said.

Officials said all opposition leaders were stopped at entry points and diverted after brief protests lasting 15 to 30 minutes.

The factory workers’ protest began on April 10 in Noida’s Phase 2 after the Haryana government increased wages of unskilled, semi-skilled, and skilled workers by 35%. While the protests remained limited between April 10 and 12, they turned violent on April 13, with more than 100 factories vandalised and vehicles torched across the district.