[Marxistindia] Letter to PM - Address Concerns of Striking Workers

[news from the cpi(m)]

April 18, 2026

Press Release

 

M. A. Baby, General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has
written a letter today to the Prime Minister, seeking the PM's intervention
to address the concerns of the striking workers in Delhi-NCR. We are
herewith releasing the text of the letter for publication. 

 

Muralidharan

(For CPI(M) Central Committee Office)

 

 

Shri Narendra Modi

Honourable Prime Minister

Government of India

New Delhi

 

Dear Shri Modiji,

 

I am writing this letter to draw your attention to the recent workers'
struggles in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Delhi NCR and many other industrial
clusters, after visiting Noida, one of these places. 

 

It was clear that resentment has been simmering among the workers for a long
time, fueled by extremely harsh working conditions, abysmal wages, and
workplace accidents. Over the past month, gas shortages and skyrocketing
inflation have pushed their endurance to its absolute breaking point. This
massive struggle also highlighted the plight of the workers, in which even
the declared minimum monthly wages range from Rs. 11,314/- (Uttar Pradesh)
to Rs. 18,456/- (Delhi). In fact, if we consider the cost of living in Delhi
NCR, it is grossly inadequate to meet the workers' daily requirements even
for a subsistence level of accommodation, food, and rent, let alone the
education and health expenditures of their family members. Though the
Haryana and UP governments have recently increased wages, that increase is
also inadequate to meet even average living standards. It is also a fact
that while minimum wages are enforced only in the organised sector, a huge
number of unorganised sector workers survive on a pittance.

 

Instead of addressing the grievances of the workers, it is extremely
unfortunate that the Uttar Pradesh and Haryana governments have dealt with
these struggles with severe police repression unheard of in the country,
with even pregnant women not being spared. The anti-trade union stance of
the governments was also visible, as they are looking at these protests as a
law-and-order issue instead of addressing them as a labour issue and
facilitating a tripartite mechanism to resolve such labour disputes. Due to
this attitude, a large number of workers have been arrested and put in
jails, placed under house arrest, and the leaders of political parties and
trade unions are not allowed to visit the aggrieved workers. I have
personally witnessed such an attitude in Noida, where the district
administration was not ready to meet our delegation, which included
honourable Members of Parliament.

 

In this background, I would urge you to intervene and impress upon the
concerned state governments to address the concerns and grievances of the
workers.

 

As an immediate measure, given the current inflation, a uniform minimum wage
of at least Rs. 26,000 per month across the entire Delhi NCR is the need of
the hour. All acts of repression, intimidation, booking workers and trade
union leaders under false cases, and fabrication of baseless allegations
against innocent workers should be stopped. Honest dialogue and concrete
measures to address the legitimate demands of workers are indispensable for
maintaining industrial peace. The government should immediately release the
innocent workers who have been arrested, and the embargo on trade union
activities should be removed. The government should also provide, as an
interim relief, subsidised LPG cylinders for migrant workers who actually
don't have registered gas connections. 

 

Lastly, at the root of all this is the fact that the new labour codes will
eat up whatever minimum rights the workers have at present. Therefore,
rescinding the newly notified labour codes and protecting the rights of the
workers should remain of paramount importance to the government. I sincerely
hope you will address these concerns.

 

Thanking you,

 

 

M. A. Baby

(General Secretary)

 

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