Miscommunication led to workers’ agitation, says UP industrial development commissioner

The UP government revised minimum wages by 21% amid worker protests, citing miscommunication and balancing factory owners' capabilities.

The high-profile committee set up by the Uttar Pradesh government to address the demands of workers’ protesting in Noida on Tuesday said the demonstration was a result of “miscommunication” and the situation was normalising after a revision of the salary structure.

Workers seen during the protest in Noida Phase 2 Industrial Area on Tuesday. (Sunil Ghosh/HT)

Addressing media, Deepak Kumar, UP infrastructure and industrial development commissioner (IIDC), who is the head of the committee, said they had increased minimum monthly wages by 21%, keeping in mind the interests of the factory owners and also the workers.

“If the wages are increased more than 21% then it will affect the business of the factories as they cannot afford to pay more than this as of now. However the Government of India is working on a policy that will finalise the wages across the country ending disparity,” said Kumar.

The committee said they could not increase wages on par with Gurugram, one of the demands of protesting workers, because factory owners could not afford a higher wage hike. Haryana last week revised its minimum wage by 35%.

The committee said they increased the wages after discussions with all stakeholders including factory owners and daily wage workers. The IIDC said that, till now, the state used to have one uniform minimum wage in all the districts of UP, but, from this year, there will be separate rates for different areas depending upon the cost of living in a particular city.

The panel has recommended separate rates for Noida and Ghaziabad and other districts of UP. The workers in other municipal corporation districts will see their minimum wages rising by nearly 15%, while those from other districts will see a hike of 9.21%. The revised wages include basic pay, weekly off and dearness allowance (DA), said the committee.

“The cost of living in Noida and Ghaziabad is relatively higher than the other parts of the state hence its minimum wage is slightly higher,” said Kumar.

The government officials said that the process of revising the minimum wage is underway at the national level under the Labour Codes, and soon there will be a ‘uniform’ policy for the country, said the committee.

“The claims circulating on social media about a ₹20,000 minimum wage were misleading and no such statewide minimum wage has been officially fixed as yet. We are here to end the miscommunication,” he further added.

Principal secretary (labour) MKS Sundaram, who is also part of the panel, said that the committee talked to both workers and industrialists.

“Around 20–22 worker representatives participated and shared their concerns. We also spoke with industry representatives. They pointed out that the cost of raw materials has increased and they are also facing difficulties in meeting export obligations, partly due to the ongoing problems in West Asia. Accordingly, the Committee revised the minimum wages to make a balance,” he said.

“Noida’s consumer price index is slightly less as compared to Gurugram which also reflects in revised minimum wages. Therefore we have taken that fact into account in terms of finalsing the wages,” said Sundaram.

The UP government revised compensation for unskilled workers from ₹11,313 to ₹13,690, semi-skilled workers’ from ₹12,445 to ₹15,059, and for skilled workers from ₹13,940 to ₹16,668, effective from April 1 late on Monday after the ongoing wage hike protests turned violent.

“We held meetings with representatives of industry and workers. The workers said that there is inflation and they have to pay rents and meet daily expenses and hence minimum wages should be revised. On the other hand, the industry representatives submitted that they were already stressed over the recent Gulf war. They are getting delayed in orders and are running on thin margins. Considering both sides, the committee decided to revise the minimum wages to make a balance because we want industry to continue working properly so that they can sustain operations, and also pay the wages,” said Kumar.

The cost of living is also the reason for the difference between the revised rate of UP and Haryana, which recently raised monthly minimum wages from ₹14,000 to ₹19,000. “We did not match the wages of Noida at par with Gurugram because of the cost living factor, and also the condition of the factory owners. The cost of living in Noida and Gurugram is different so will be the wages because we cannot keep the same rates for the two cities,” said Kumar.

Kumar said the panel was staying in the city for two days to address the issues properly by taking everyone involved in confidence