Surviving a city on ₹13,690
Workers in Noida have recently seen a wage increase after protests for better working conditions. The minimum wage was raised to ₹13,690 for unskilled workers, but many still struggle to make ends meet. Personal aspirations remain unfulfilled as workers face high living costs and job insecurity.
- ▪Thousands of workers in Noida protested for better wages and working conditions.
- ▪The minimum wage was revised for unskilled, semi-skilled, and skilled workers after the protests.
- ▪Surabhi, a worker, expresses that the wage increase will not significantly change her financial situation.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
Outside a building that looks like a concrete cube, rows of buses wait to ferry workers home. The bell rings. Hundreds in sand-coloured uniforms stream out. Food vendors make their way through the queues, stationing their stalls in the gaps between the buses.Surabhi (name changed to protect identity) walks out slowly with a group of friends, shoulders drooping after her 16-hour shift. One of the women points towards an ice cream stall and gently pulls at Surabhi’s sleeve, asking if they should each get a cone.Surabhi shakes her head. “Rehne do; ₹80 ka ek hai (Let it be; one costs ₹80),” she says. She has worked overtime in the multinational corporation that operates within the concrete cube, its periphery guarded by other workers and barbed wire that runs across high walls.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at The Hindu — Top.
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