LUCKNOW, April 15 -- For workers protesting at factories in Noida and trade unions, the minimum wage revision announced by a Uttar Pradesh government committee is overdue by at least a decade and inadequate by Rs.10,000. Skilled workers in Gautam Buddha Nagar and Ghaziabad will see monthly wages rise from Rs.13,940 to Rs.16,868 under the revised interim wage structure, announced Monday night and effective April 1. Semi-skilled and unskilled workers will earn around Rs.15,059 and Rs.13,690, respectively. The minimum wage structure applies to both direct and contract workers under the Factories Act. Other parts of the state will get less, with the state trifurcated into regions: the highest for Noida/Ghaziabad, a middle tier for municipal corporations, and a lower tier for the remaining 75 districts. Trade unions like CITU and Hind Mazdoor Sabha and workers noted that formal wage revisions have been delayed since 2014, and new rates still trail Delhi (Rs.22,411 for skilled) and Haryana (Rs.18,500). "The government is saying that they increased salaries by Rs.1,000 or Rs.2,000, but is this sufficient? At least, we should get a minimum salary of Rs.20,000 to Rs.25,000 to survive with our families in Noida," said Anwar, who makes T-shirts. Uma Shankar Mishra, general secretary of the Hind Mazdoor Sabha in UP, said, "Announcing a wage hike against the backdrop of recent protests is merely an eyewash as the minimum wage revision has not been done for more than a decade." He added that trifurcation puts workers in Kanpur, Agra, Lucknow, and Varanasi at a disadvantage and demanded a minimum wage committee. Premnath Rai, state general secretary of CITU, demanded Rs.26,000 per month, accusing the government of ignoring workers' rights and diluting labour department powers with self-inspection policies. The last minimum wage revision in 2014 had fixed basic pay at Rs.5,750 per month for unskilled worker, Rs.6,325 per month for the semi-skilled worker and Rs.7,085 per month for the skilled employee. This, combined with the dearness allowance rates revised from time to time has led a minimum wage of Rs.11,313 per month for the unskilled worker, Rs.12,445 per month for the semi skilled worker and Rs.13,940 per month for the skilled employee, until Monday's hike. Workers continuing protests said they have not received official notice. The UP principal secretary (labour), Shanmuga Sundaram, said the notification will be issued by Wednesday. Deepak Kumar, UP infrastructure and industrial development commissioner (committee head), said wages were hiked 21%, keeping the interests of workers and factory owners and the cost of living in mind....