Ranchi (Jharkhand) [India], Aug 10 (ANI): Members of Jharkhand Salon Association on Monday staged a protest at Ranchi's main square Albert Ekka Chowk demanding reopening of salons and beauty parlours across the state.

Poonam Arora, one of the protestors told ANI, "We are struggling due to the closure of our businesses. It has been shut for almost 5 months now," Arora said.

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"The state government has permitted all the other shops to resume their work except Salon. If the government is concerned about the hygiene, then I would say salon is the business for hygiene," he said.

Salon owners were piqued that all other states except the Jharkhand government had permitted reopening of salons.

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Radha Devi, who came from Jamshedpur said, " We do not want anyone to pity us but to give an order to open our businesses. We were self-reliant and now also, we want to be self-depend."

Another protestor, Dilip Chaudhary said, "Salons and parlous across the country have opened, it is only in Jharkhand that they are closed. We request the government to give us permission to resume our businesses."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on March 24 announced a 21-day nationwide lockdown as a precautionary measure to contain the spread of COVID-19. The lockdown was later extended till May 3.

All services, including public transport, schools, colleges and shopping malls, have been closed so as to stop the transmission of the highly contagious coronavirus.

The Central government is gradually easing the restrictions which have been put in place. (ANI)

(The above story is verified and authored by ANI staff, ANI is South Asia's leading multimedia news agency with over 100 bureaus in India, South Asia and across the globe. ANI brings the latest news on Politics and Current Affairs in India & around the World, Sports, Health, Fitness, Entertainment, & News. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)