In their cramped rented room, where summer felt like a furnace, winter like a slap of cold, and rains leaked through the walls, Tularam dreamt of a different life – a sit-down job in a cubicle with a computer. It was a simple dream of a boy growing up in a slum inside a city of glass towers, gated apartments with manicured lawns and dog parks, golf courses and malls.

Tularam’s father’s stint as a factory worker was cut short in 2019 when he lost his hand at work.

“The factory owner paid for his treatment, gave us ₹50,000 as compensation and then fired him. He’s been jobless since that day,” said the 23-year-old, who declined to reveal his surname.

His dream soon faded and Tularam found himself tracing the same path as his father, a job in a factory in Noida as an embroiderer, where he works over 12 hours a day, seven days a week for ₹12,000. “If I take a day off due to an emergency, my pay is cut. Sometimes I pull 16-hour shifts and by the end of it, I can’t feel my fingers but even then the overtime I am paid is so little. At a normal speed, I can make 20 collars an hour, but they demand 35, 40, 45. How can we live like this?” Tularam asked.

Last week, thousands of factory workers in Noida asked the same question.

There was no answer.

Days later, they poured onto the streets in anger and frustration, smashing windows of swanky houses, shouted slogans, burnt vehicles and asked again.

Why did their wages not match Delhi’s and Gurugram’s?

On April 9, Haryana revised its minimum wage, with the last revision having taken place in October 2015. The basic monthly minimum wage for unskilled workers was increased to ₹15,220.71, and the monthly wage for highly skilled workers to ₹19,425.85. Delhi has the highest minimum wage in the National Capital Region (NCR) with companies expected to pay monthly wages of ₹18,456 for unskilled, ₹20,371 for semi-skilled and ₹22,411 for skilled workers.

An HT analysis recently indicated the stark economic realities behind recent factory worker protests, particularly in Noida, using official labour data to show how poorly paid India’s manufacturing workforce is. It found that the average salaried factory worker earns significantly lower than the ₹22,699 average across all sectors—highlighting the relative disadvantage of manufacturing jobs. A monthly salary of ₹22,500 is enough to place a worker among the top 20% in the manufacturing sector, revealing how low wages are at the bottom. And only a small fraction of workers have formal contracts, and access to benefits like paid leave or social security remains limited. Most workers are either self-employed or hired through contractors, often earning even less and lacking even the semblance of a safety net.

Minimum wages in India are set by states for most workers in their jurisdictions, and revised at least every five years with interim adjustments through variable dearness allowance (VDA). In Uttar Pradesh, the basic minimum wage for an unskilled worker stayed at ₹5,750 from October 2016 to April 2026.

To be sure, including VDA, the minimum wage rose 52.76% from ₹7,214 in October 2016 to ₹11,021 in October 2025 — barely keeping pace with the 54% rise in Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW) between October 2016 and February 2026 in the country.

In the wake of protests turning violent in Noida, the Uttar Pradesh government on April 14 hiked minimum wages across worker categories, with revised rates coming into effect from April 1. In Gautam Budh Nagar and Ghaziabad, unskilled workers will now be paid ₹13,690 per month, up from ₹11,313, while semi-skilled workers will receive ₹15,059, and skilled workers ₹16,868. This announcement has been coupled with a crackdown on protesters and arrests.

Since the protests were called off, Tularam returned to work at the garment factory in Noida Industrial Area phase 2, only to find the gates locked. They finally opened only on Monday.

“I am not optimistic about being paid more after the government’s announcement. No one cares and no one will check if I get better wages next month.”

Along the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway, summer arrives with a blaze of yellow trumpet flowers; Gulmohar trees that neatly line the route past high rises. The roads, the high-rises, the greenery — all signal the promise of a booming urban frontier but merely a few kilometres later, just before Dadri, the sheen gives way to working class settlements like Pratap Vihar.

Here the workers who are the satellite-city’s economic lifeblood live amid overflowing sewage, broken roads and garbage-strewn lanes. It is here that 40-year-old Vijender has spent the past two decades having moved from Jawli village in Ghaziabad in 2004 chasing a construction boom. Today, as videos of striking workers circulate on WhatsApp and Facebook, that early promise feels distant – replaced by a deepening sense of betrayal among those who built the region’s prosperity.

Vijender, who also declined to reveal his surname, started out as a labourer tasked with washing bottles at an aerated drinks company in Noida in 2004 from 6 am to 6pm daily for ₹2,700 a month. He had rented a room for ₹1,000 a month, 10km away from work. “Even in 2004, how could I pay rent, the commute, and food, and save and send some money back home to my parents, buy food, and save money with my earnings?”

Over the last two decades, Vijender, like thousands of workers, has shuffled jobs – across multi-national companies, manufacturers of automobile-parts, and shipping container depots. From ₹2,700, his salary went to ₹7,000 in 2007 at a CD manufacturing unit to ₹12,000 at an auto parts factory in 2015. But that last job lasted all of six months; contract workers are regularly de-rostered.

In 2016, his wages again dipped to ₹7,000 when he took up a job at an inland container depot. Demonetisation roiled the local industry, and workers suffered. Another jolt came with the pandemic but since the container depot dealt with essentials like foodgrains and medicines, he continued to work. In 2020, his wages rose to ₹17,000 as he started working as a semi-skilled surveyor.

He earns that even today.

Time hasn’t been kind and 22 years later, with a wife and two school going children, Vijender finds it hard to make ends meet. A sudden health crisis at home sets him back. A measly hike in rent has him desperately asking for money from friends. Admitting his nine-year-old daughter and seven-year-old son to a private school meant a loan of ₹15,000 from a relative. The neighborhood lanes are dotted with advertisements for small private English-medium schools, offering a hope and break from the vicious cycle of poverty.

A bulk of his ₹17,000 income goes toward rent for a run down two-room rented accommodation ( ₹5,000), household expenses including food, water, electricity, repairs( ₹4,000- ₹5,000), and now an additional ₹2,600 for school fee. The spike in LPG prices only further worsened the situation. “Jo kamate hai, guzaare mein lagate hai (Whatever I earn, I spend on survival),” said Vijender.

In these two decades, he has never had the chance to save money, not one rupee.

As videos of the protests by factory workers in Noida Industrial Area – around 20 km away from where he works – started coming in on his phone, a faint sense of hope stirred inside him. “Mujhe laga ki agar udhar awaaz uthi hai toh shayad yaha tak bhi aa jaaye (I felt that if a voice had been raised there, it might come here too),” said Vijender.

Growing demand for uniform minimum wages

Dr Aparna (who uses only one name), head of the Indian Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU), said the organisation has long been demanding uniform minimum wages across Delhi-NCR, arguing that living costs across the region are largely comparable. “The unrest stems from stagnant wages that have failed to keep pace with inflation over the past two decades. People are barely able to survive as minimum wages are not being paid, and the cooking gas crisis has intensified the distress after years of neglect,” she said.

She identified three immediate triggers behind the current situation: Haryana’s recent wage hike, the spike in gas prices, and disparities in wages by subsidiaries of the same companies across NCR.

Rajesh Kumar, general secretary of IFTU Delhi, traced the roots of the problem to industries relocating from Delhi to neighbouring areas to cut labour costs. “By 2012, key manufacturing sectors – garments, footwear, and foundries – were already moving out following pollution-control measures. Around 2013, the Delhi government announced a ₹4,000 increase in minimum wages, from ₹12,000 to ₹16,000. Units challenged this in court, and the final hike settled at ₹13,350 – still much higher than the ₹9,000 paid in places like Manesar and Gurugram in Haryana and Noida and Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh. Companies moved out of Delhi to save ₹4,000–5,000 per worker,” he said.

Kumar said companies that moved out of Delhi have subsidiaries in NCR towns where wages are paid at significantly lower levels. “Workers are very aware now. They know what their counterparts earn in Delhi or what the official wages there are. This disparity in incomes has further led to unrest among them,” he said.

Vipin Malhan, president of Noida Entrepreneurs Association agreed that some of the problems the workers highlighted are genuine and that industries have agreed to 21% hike in wages as a middle ground. However, he said this increase has strained units already reeling due to the impact of the West Asia war.

“Raw material supply has been disrupted and cost has gone up by 60%. We are mostly involved with component industries. From Trump’s tariffs to war, industries have been impacted. The factory operators had to start from scratch after the pandemic,” he said.

He added that the immediate trigger of the protests was a 35% hike in wages by Haryana.

Why factories left Delhi

In the last decade, textile industries shifted to Manesar and Dharuhera; plastic and PVC units to Bahadurgarh; and automobile parts manufacturing to Noida and Greater Noida. “The decline of Okhla’s industrial base fuelled growth in Noida. Delhi now has virtually no industries operating three shifts. Nearly 50-60% of units either relocated or opened subsidiaries elsewhere,” Kumar said.

The Covid-19 pandemic dealt a further blow, shutting down all but essential industries. Delhi’s workforce largely comes from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Jharkhand. While many landless workers traditionally return home during sowing and harvesting seasons, the 2020-2023 pandemic period caused prolonged stagnation, forcing many to rebuild livelihoods from scratch.

Kumar added that despite recent wage hikes in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, disparities persist. “On paper, these wages are paid, but the system runs through contractors. The thekedar (contractor) often pays only ₹9,000-10,000. Workers are exploited through this contract system, and enforcement is even weaker in neighbouring states. The resentment is real.”

In Delhi too, a quiet, but growing resentment

The frustration over stagnant wages, widening disparities, and a deepening sense of being shortchanged is not limited to industrial hubs in the NCR. Each time, it travels to Delhi, where factory workers report similar distress.

Chanda Kumari, 28, a single mother, who supports her daughter and elderly parents by working in the packaging industry in west Delhi’s Mayapuri industrial area, earns ₹9,000 a month.

“We pack 2,000–3,000 sets of shoes, slippers, and similar items a day, for which I am paid ₹9,000 for an eight-hour shift. There’s a half-hour lunch break and a 10-minute tea break. If I fall ill and miss a day, my salary is cut. How can anyone sustain a family on so little?” she asked.

Chanda spends around ₹3,000 on rent a month, with a similar amount going towards household expenditure, medicines, school supplies. “I don’t want my daughter to grow up to be a factory worker. She studies in a private school and I pay ₹1,500 a month,” she said.

Lives of women factory workers are marred by several challenges – unequal pay, unsafe working spaces, lack of clean toilets, hostile streets. Women factory workers in Delhi’s industrial clusters often contend with conditions that go beyond low wages. Many report unsafe workplaces, including inadequate lighting, lack of security, and vulnerability during late shifts or commutes. Even basic facilities remain a persistent concern – access to clean and functional toilets is limited forcing women to delay use for long hours, which affects their health. In addition, they face gender-based discrimination, harassment, and little provision for maternity needs or childcare support, making sustained employment difficult.

All that it costs

As the factories in Noida return to their daily churn, Tularam has returned to work but wonders if the government’s promise will hold up, and in Dadri, Vijender hopes the announcement about a wage hike will improve his life. After all, it was only 10 days ago that Vijender’s wife finally moved to Pratap Vihar from their village 50km away – for the first time since they married 11 years ago. There was never enough money to rent a two-room house. “I would visit monthly, sometimes after two-three months. I was never earning enough to spend ₹5,000 on rent, so she stayed in the village with my parents and siblings. Now my children are growing up, they need better education so it’s important they study in the city. Who else am I earning for after all?” he said.