Pune: Decision on hair cutting salons soon, PMC commissioner assures salon owners
Pune, May 24, 2020: The Maharashtra Nabhik (Barber) Mahamandal has demanded in a letter to Pune Municipal Commissioner Shekhar Gaikwad that hair cutting salon should be allowed to open except in containment zones. A delegation including Pune city president Mahesh Sangale, youth president Nilesh Pandey and Gajanan Pandit met the commissioner yesterday and made this demand. Salon professionals have already closed shops to support the administration in its fight against corona. As a result, salon owners and their staffs are facing many difficulties as shops have been closed for the last two months. It will take time for business to recover after the lockdown.
For the last two days, traders from other parts of the city except the containment zones have been allowed to do business by the government and the municipal corporation. However, this permission has not yet been granted to salon owners in Pune city. Therefore, salons should be allowed to start in the given time in other areas except the containment zones, they demanded.
In a letter to the commissioner, the association also assured that they will do business by following all the guidelines for prevention of Coronavirus. Sangle said the municipal commissioner assured that salons would be allowed to open soon in Pune. These days the salons are closed due to a lockdown imposed to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Although lockdown-4 has allowed the opening of salons in some places including in Pimpri Chinchwad.
Three years ago, the salon industry across India was worth more than Rs 28,000 crores. According to the report of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, FICCI, last year, there were 60 to 70 lakh salons in the country. They also include small salons and large ones. According to this report, India’s salon industry was worth $ 3.8 billion in 2017-18, which in today’s amount is Rs 28500 crore. In the same report, it was also said that 85% of the annual revenue the salon industry gets from women alone. FICCI had earlier estimated 14.3% growth in the country’s salon industry from 2017 to 2022.
A report was released by the National Skill Development Corporation under the Union Government’s Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. In this report, in 2013, 34 lakh people worked in the beauty and salon industry in India. But, this industry is continuously growing. Therefore, by 2022, there will be a need for 1.2 crore workers in this industry. According to the report, more than 50% of the people working in this industry are women.The hairstyists include 45%, beauticians 45%, support staffs 5 % and managers 5%, in the industry.
