Among the key demands, the workers urged the government to issue a final minimum wage revision notification based on the draft notification issued on April 11, 2025 and to implement the revised wages retrospectively from 2022. | Photo credit: FILE PHOTO
Workers affiliated to the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) staged a protest in Bengaluru on Thursday demanding the state government to immediately issue a final notification on the revision of minimum wages and increase in Variable Allowance (VDA).
A memorandum with their demands was presented to the authorities.
Among the key demands, the workers called on the government to issue a final minimum wage revision notification based on the draft notification issued on April 11, 2025, and to implement the revised wages retrospectively from 2022.
They also called for a doubling of the VDA rate from four to eight paise per Consumer Price Index (CPI) point, saying the current rate is not enough to offset the impact of rising inflation and rising costs of essential commodities.
The unions further demanded that minimum wages be set based on the 2,700-calorie standard, in line with the norms set by the Supreme Court, to ensure that workers are able to meet basic needs such as food, clothing, housing, education and healthcare.
Another key demand was to address the wage gap affecting women workers, particularly in industries such as garment manufacturing, beedi rolling, agarbatti production and plantations, where labor groups said pay inequalities were still rife.
Labor representatives pointed out that the minimum wages in Karnataka were last revised in 2016-17 and the delay in updating them by almost nine years has eroded the real income of workers.
The protesters stressed that the minimum wage was a constitutional right and not a form of charity and warned that the agitation would intensify if the government did not take immediate steps to address their demands.
Published – 05 March 2026 20:51 IST
