india

Updated: Mar 07, 2019 21:44 IST

More than 100 barbers from Barmer in western Rajasthan organised a fund-raiser for the families of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers killed in the terrorist attack on February 14 in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir.

The barbers got together at a special stall outside the district collector’s office building on Monday to raise money by cutting hair and shaving people’s head and beards. The barbers kept their shops closed for this fund-raiser.

Sen community president Veerchand Sen said when the country was mourning the loss of the brave soldiers in a suicide bombing in Pulwama, the barbers of the town thought of doing something for the families.

“We thought of raising money through donations but later dropped the idea and decided to skip our shops for a day and work at one place,” he said. “We earn our livelihood by cutting hair and shaving people. We thought we should do that only to raise money (for families of the brave soldiers),” Sen said.

The barbers worked from 9 am to 4 pm and made Rs 51,000. The money was given to the district collector for donation to the CRPF families.

Sen said people cooperated with them in the initiative – some of them turned up at the stall to be part of this fund-raiser even though they didn’t need a haircut.

“I got myself shaved in the morning but when I was passing through this place and saw this stall, I went for a shave again, only to be able to contribute to this noble cause,” said Santosh Kumar, a local.

There are around 225 barber shops in Barmer, and about 150 of them took part in the fund-raiser.