DA hike: BMS stages protest at Jantar Mantar to push demands — Minimum pension, OPS, labour codes on charter

DA hike: The RSS-affiliated Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) held demonstrations at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi today seeking to press the Centre over long-pending demands of employees, pensioners, scheme workers and unorganised workers, as per an ANI report.

The protest at Jantar Mantar aims to bring the demands directly to the national capital, with BMS members urging the government to initiate discussions and take concrete steps towards resolving the issues, the report added.

BMS in a statement said the protests are intended to push the government to take action on these issues and the demonstration at Jantar Mantar is expected to remain a key point of the organisation's campaign.

The call for nationwide protests come amid concerns raised by trade unions and workers' organisations over employment security, implementation of labour codes, pension and wages, as per the report.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, the central trade union's national vice president and media in-charge Pawan Kumar said the key demands include a minimum monthly wage of ₹ 30,000 for unskilled workers, job security for contract workers, higher pensions and increased wage ceilings for employees' provident fund (EPF) and employees' insurance (ESI), PTI reported.

Kumar said the government has promised to address the trade unions ' concerns regarding the labour codes on 21 November 2025, but the concerns remain unresolved. He told PTI that the BMS held its national executive meeting in Ranchi between 26-28 July with 173 of the 180 members in attendance. He said that a consensus was reached to hold demonstrations on 17 August to press for demands.

The organisation will assess its strength after the protests before deciding its next course of action, he added.

Jocelyn Fernandes is a journalist and editor with nearly 13 years of experience covering the business, corporate, economy and markets beats in news.<br> As chief content producer for around three years at Livemint (Hindustan Times), Jocelyn publishes breaking stories, explainers, features and live blogs on a range of business and economy topics, including the Budget, corporate developments, stock markets, income tax, money and personal finance, cryptocurrency, government policy, impact of US tariffs, international developments and more.<br> Jocelyn's writing philosophy is focused on delivering news in an accurate and accessible format for readers. She thus focuses her news coverage on explainers and FAQs in order to breakdown business, corporate, economic, and policy topics that are of importance to everyday readers.<br> She holds a Bachelors in Mass Media (BMM) and Post Graduate Diploma (PGD) in Journalism and Communication and has previously written for online business and markets news site Moneycontrol (Network18), Business-to-business (B2B) trade publications — the industry magazines Power Today and Solar Today (ASAPP Media), and the national news agency United News of India (UNI).<br> Outside of work, Jocelyn keeps up-to-date with local and international news, enjoys reading fiction books, novels and short stories, and enjoys movies, travelling and art.