New Delhi, Feb 13 Trinamool Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien has proposed a bold policy measure to address India's persistent low wages and widespread working poverty. He has called for the introduction of a Universal Minimum Annual National Guarantee, or UMANG, for workers across all sectors.
Speaking during zero hour, O'Brien highlighted alarming statistics on youth unemployment and stagnant incomes.
He noted that one in three youth in India is not in employment, education, or training. For those who do have jobs, many lack any guaranteed minimum wage, trapping them in cycles of poverty. He pointed out that the national daily wage has remained largely stagnant at around 176 rupees over the past decade.
Low wages depress consumption and lock workers into working poverty, he said, emphasising how this undermines economic growth and household well-being.
To tackle these issues, O'Brien advocated for a single, legally enforceable universal basic minimum wage applicable irrespective of sector, industry, contract type, including gig and contract workers, or workplace location.
He coined the term UMANG for this floor wage, which would ensure no worker earns below a nationally set threshold.
The Trinamool leader outlined four practical steps for effective implementation. First, notify a binding national floor wage under existing wage laws to make it mandatory nationwide. Second, automatically index the wage to inflation, with annual revisions to preserve its real value over time. Third, simplify the structure of rates and categories to reduce complexity and encourage easy compliance by employers. Fourth, extend coverage universally to all categories of workers, including those in the unorganised sector, gig economy, and contract-based roles, groups often excluded from traditional protections.
Meanwhile, claiming that the Agniveer scheme has betrayed aspiring soldiers, AAP leader Sanjay Singh said that getting recruited into the Army is the dream of every youth.
“The Army is the pride of India. From 2019 to 2020, many youth gave and cleared the exam. Around 1,30,000 youth gave the exam. Even for the Air Force, around 7,000 youth passed the exam. But I want to tell you that these youths are sad and hurt that they have not yet been recruited into the Army.”
“Youth from different parts of the country apply for the exam with courage to fight for the country, no matter what. But the Agniveer scheme has betrayed the people and youth of India,” Singh said.
He then narrated a story of a soldier named Harinder Yadav, who came to visit him in Jaunpur. “He poured out his heart about his desire to serve as a soldier, but he was made to do servant work for an authority. This should be stopped,” he says.
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