₹30,000 Minimum Wage Push: What It Means for You?

Trade unions are pushing the government to raise the national minimum wage to ₹30,000 per month, restore the Old Pension Scheme, and extend labour protections. Here's what these demands mean for your salary, pension, and job security.

Here's what happened: Trade unions marched in Delhi demanding a national minimum wage of ₹30,000 per month, citing rising inflation and stagnant real wages for millions of workers.. Unions also demanded restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) for government employees, arguing that the market-linked NPS exposes retirees to investment risk.. Demands include stronger job security for contract and gig workers and a rollback or renegotiation of the four new Labour Codes that unions say dilute worker protections..

What you should do: Check whether you fall under NPS or OPS by reviewing your appointment letter date — central government employees joining after January 1, 2004 are under NPS by default.. Compare your current NPS corpus projection with what OPS would have paid — use the NPS Trust online calculator to see your estimated monthly pension at retirement.. If you're employed as a contract or gig worker, verify with your employer whether you are covered under ESIC and EPFO — many contractual employees are illegally excluded from these benefits..

NPS subscribers can voluntarily increase their Tier-I contributions beyond the mandatory 10% — extra contributions qualify for an additional ₹50,000 tax deduction under Section 80CCD(1B) each year.