Date:07/01/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/01/07/stories/2009010760120400.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Protest against increasing number of beauty salons

Staff Reporter

— Photo: K. Gopinathan

Voicing concern: Members of the Akhila Karnataka Savitha Samaja Yuvakara Sangha and other organisations taking out a rally in Bangalore on Tuesday.

BANGALORE: Increasing number of beauty salons in the city, especially those managed by big companies, has left the barbers across the city fuming.

The companies that run the beauty salon chains should stop expanding, barbers, who staged a protest at Malleswaram Grounds, said on Tuesday. They said the salons had robbed them of their customers.

Suresh Kumar, who has a shop in Malleswaram, said: “These people are robbing us of our daily bread and butter. Let them not expand as we will surely go bankrupt. Most of our customers are going to them even if they want their hair trimmed.”

He said: “We charge a maximum of Rs. 100, but for the same haircut these salons charge more than Rs. 300. If we too start charging people with such high rates, no one will enter our shops. People just go to them because they have a brand.”

Reservation

The protesters said that the barbers were demanding reservation status from 2A to 1A for a long a time, which would benefit the education of their children.