How Noida workers’ protest landed DU student in jail under NSA

Factory workers staged a protest in April 2026 demanding higher wages in Noida, Gautam Buddh Nagar district, Uttar Pradesh. Photo credit: PTI

On a hot April afternoon, as a war involving the United States, Israel and Iran left several countries grappling with an oil and gas crisis and rising prices, workers took to the streets of Noida — one of Asia’s major planned industrial areas with thousands of factories and manufacturing units — to demand an increase in minimum wages as the cost of living in India continued to rise.

The protest was also part of growing labor unrest across the National Capital Region (NCR), which came shortly after workers in neighboring Haryana secured a significant wage hike.

Published – 03 Sep 2026 10:58 IST