The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams(TTD) has decided to increase the wages of Kalyanakatta tonsurers, working under piece-rate system, from ₹11 to ₹15 for each tonsure.
At present, 860 tonsurers are working at the Kalyanakatta and are paid ₹11 per tonsure and ₹4 per scissor, which is directly deposited into their individual accounts.
With an intention to meet the growing demand from the pilgrims, the TTD had roped in the services of about 1,160 barbers under Srivari Seva back in 2012 and later in the successive years decided to pay them remuneration on par with other barbers working under piece-rate system by re-designating them as Kalyanakatta tonsurers.
Though the proposal to enhance the wages of Kalyanakatta tonsurers, whose duties are akin to those rendered by other piece-rate and regular barbers, has been there for quite some time, it was deferred owing to certain administrative reasons.
After deliberation, the TTD opined that the hair dressers fell under skilled workers category and that there was a need to increase their piece-rate amount and ensure payment of minimum wages on par with other technical job workers.
About one-third of the visiting devout tonsure their heads at Kalyanakatta (the biggest tonsuring in Asia). According to statistics, about 75,91,368 devotees got their heads shaved at Kalyanakatta during 2019-20. Each tonsurer was paid ₹8,096 assuming that they carried out 736 tonsures on an average in a month.
The fact that TTD did not make any recruitment of barbers between 1986 to 2001 owing to a ban and that the strength of regular barbers who were absorbed into its fold by way of an agreement with the then Kalyanakatta mirasidars in 1975 gradually decreased with deaths/retirements resulting in a drastic shortfall of the staff which in turn contributed in the increased waiting time of pilgrims also influenced its decision to give them a fair deal in the wages.
