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UPCC chief Ajay Rai slams state govt for Noida unrest, demands ₹25,000 minimum wage
Rai sharply criticised the shift from permanent jobs, which he claimed were common during the Congress tenure, to contractual or daily-wage employment via outsourcing under the BJP govt.
The Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) chief Ajay Rai on Wednesday held the state government responsible for the recent employee protests in Noida, alleging that the administration has proven itself “completely incompetent in governance” and failed to take decisive action on the issue.
Addressing a press conference at the UPCC headquarters, Rai condemned the police’s “brutal ‘lathi-charge’” in Noida, noting that several people were injured and that “the very individuals against whom the police unleashed were subsequently arrested”.
Rai sharply criticised the shift from permanent jobs, which he claimed were common during the Congress tenure, to contractual or daily-wage employment via outsourcing under the BJP government. He asserted that this system offers “no job security, meager wages and allows the outsourcing contractor to siphon off a significant portion of the salary”.
The UPCC chief also highlighted a change in working hours, noting that the standard duration during the Congress regime was 8 hours, in accordance with international labour standards, a limit he claimed the BJP government has since extended to 12 hours. He demanded that the minimum wage for workers be raised to at least ₹25,000 and the working duration be reverted to 8 hours.
Turning to the Women’s Reservation Bill, Ajay Rai dismissed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statements on the matter as “nothing but a sham”. He referenced the Congress party’s history of respecting women, citing appointments like Sarojini Naidu as UP governor, Sucheta Kripalani as the state’s first female chief minister, Indira Gandhi as Prime Minister, Pratibha Patil as President and Meira Kumar as Lok Sabha Speaker.
Rai claimed that the Congress party was the first to introduce the bill, which passed in the Rajya Sabha. He argued that if the BJP had been sincere, they could have passed the bill in the Lok Sabha and implemented reservation as early as 2014, but their “intention was never to grant reservation to women”.
Rai further condemned the decision to make the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) mandatory for teachers from Class 1 to Class 8 who have already been teaching for 25 to 30 years. He pointed out that the TET requirement was implemented only in July 2011, and stated that the Congress party firmly supports the 175,000 teachers across the state whose jobs this regulation has “jeopardised”. Rai asserted that no teacher’s employment would be terminated and any terminated teachers would be reinstated upon the formation of a Congress government.
