Hairdressers seek fixed work time to earn livelihood

COIMBATORE: Hairdressers in Coimbatore have urged the district administration to allow them to reopen saloons with time restrictions as their livelihood has been hit by the government’s closure order.

They sought permission to open the saloons for at least five hours from 7 am to 12 noon to save hundreds of people, who eke out a living from this profession. There are more than 4,500 saloons in Coimbatore district.

“After working for long years in a corporate brand of saloon, I started my own at a rented premise by investing nearly Rs 2 lakh barely three months ago. I managed with the huge investment by borrowing for an interest. But, the sudden closure of the shop has come as a huge blow as I am extremely worried over arranging money to pay rent for my house and shop besides fees for my two school going children,” said K Murugan, a hair dresser at Dhanalakshmipuram near Central Studio in Ramanathapuram.

Representing the plight of hair dressers, members of Tamil Nadu Hair Dressers Union-Ukkadam branch in Coimbatore urged Collector S Nagarajan to help them reopen for restricted hours, while assuring to follow COVID-19 protocol as suggested by the government.

In a similar petition, the members of Tamil Nadu Hair Dressers Union in Tirupur claimed that they are yet to recover from the impact of the first lockdown imposed following the outbreak of COVID-19 last year.

“More than 200 hair dressers in North and South Taluk have so far not received even the dole announced by the state government as relief assistance to barbers. The government should expedite the process to issue the promised financial relief and also allow us to function during stipulated hours to enable us survive,” said V Jeevamathi, president of Tirupur District Hair Dressers Association.