New Delhi: A civil rights organisation has urged the government to immediately withdraw all cases slapped against labourers during a protest in NCR earlier this year and ensure workers are paid the increased wages promised to them.

The appeal by Jan Hastakshep was made during the release of a report of its fact-finding team during a press conference at the Press Club of India here on Friday.

Vehicles, including police SUVs, were torched, public property vandalised, and stone-pelting reported from industrial hubs in Noida, Gurugram and Manesar in April as protests by factory workers demanding a wage hike turned violent.

Jan Hastakshep convenor Vikas Bajpai and co-convenor Anil Dubey demanded that the allegations of "mistreatment and assault" of workers in Noida jail should be investigated and their confiscated mobile phones and other devices should be returned.

All cases against workers related to the labour movement should be withdrawn immediately, and all arrested persons should be released, Bajpai and Dubey said at the press conference.

They also demanded that the government ensure the payment of the "promised wage increase" to the workers with effect from April 1.

Considering the current condition of workers in the National Capital Region (NCR), the Jan Hastakshep fact-finding team has concluded that the governments of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana should immediately accept the workers' demands.

The workers' major demands -- a living wage, an 8-hour workday, double pay for overtime, annual bonuses and dignified treatment at workplaces -- are democratic and constitutional rights and therefore, the governments should take appropriate action to implement them, the organisation said.

"The contract labour system should be completely abolished, and companies should hire workers directly. The four anti-worker labour codes should be immediately repealed and labour laws and labour rights, including the right to form unions, should be fully implemented," it said.

The Jan Hastakshep said a comprehensive record of all small and large industrial units in Noida, Gurugram and Manesar should be compiled and a register of workers employed there should be maintained.

"Workers should be paid a living wage and wage increases should be linked to inflation. Their PF and ESI cards should also be ensured," it said.