Overview
- Derek O’Brien used Zero Hour to propose a single, legally enforceable national minimum wage branded UMANG for all workers across sectors and contract types.
- His plan calls for notifying a binding national floor under existing wage law, automatic inflation indexation with yearly revisions, and simpler rate structures for compliance.
- He urged universal coverage that explicitly includes unorganised, contract, and gig workers who often lack wage protections.
- O’Brien cited persistent distress in the labour market, noting one in three youths is not in employment or education and that the national wage floor has lingered around ₹176 per day.
- AAP’s Sanjay Singh renewed criticism of the Agniveer scheme, saying large numbers who cleared recruitment exams remain unrecruited and highlighting a complaint by soldier Harinder Yadav about mistreatment.