With the State government ordering shutting down of salons as part of the COVID-19 lockdown, the Tamil Nadu Hairdressers Union has approached the government requesting them to reopen salons as many of them are facing losses. Alternatively they sought monetary aid from the government.
As part of the lockdown to control the spread of COVID-19 second wave, the state government imposed new restrictions that came into effect from April 26. As part of this, salons and barber shops were asked to shut down. Subsequently many hairdressers have started offering home services.
“I pay ₹800 per day for each employee in my shop and I have to continue paying even if the shop is closed. So I decided to offer home service to meet my expenses. But people are frightened to avail the service,” said P. Anand, owner of a salon in Anna Nagar.
Many hairdressers across the city said that they take adequate precautions even while visiting a customer’s house. “We check our temperature and wear a face shield and mask before entering their house. But due to fear of getting infected many are not calling us,” said a hairdresser from Chromepet.
Though the big salons are closed, the road side barbers are still open. For 49-year-old Moorthy, the pandemic has snatched his earnings. “I have been running this roadside open salon near Koyambedu market for the past seven years. I used to earn ₹600 to ₹700 per day and my customers were mainly traders and lorry drivers. Now it has plummeted to ₹200 per day. I hardly get to save any money,” he said.
M.Munusamy, president, Tamil Nadu Hairdressers Union, said that the organisation has submitted a petition to the state government, requesting to allow functioning of the salons. “Most of us have to pay rents and wages. It is hard to make ends meet. The government should at least provide a relief of ₹15,000 per month to registered hairdressers,” he said.
