Cuttack: Protests continued at the SCB Medical College and Hospital for the second day as house surgeons remained off duty from work on Thursday.

The house surgeons have been on strike, protesting against "inadequate" security for doctors during duty hours and "low" stipend of Rs 15,000 per month that they are currently being paid.

The protesters said the stipend had been due for revision last April. A government order from April 1, 2014 had increased stipend for house surgeons in all state-run medical colleges by Rs 2,000 from Rs 13,000 for a period of three years. It was due for revision after March 31. However, the house surgeons said they were still being paid Rs 15,000.

A delegation of house surgeons had an across the board talks with health minister Pratap Jena in Bhubaneswar on Thursday. "Our general body will take a decision on future course of action," All Odisha House Surgeons' Association secretary Dr Susobhan Bahinipati said. Although he remained tight-lipped about the meeting with the minister, sources said it was fruitful.

The striking doctors kept the official chamber of the hospital's superintendent locked for the second day as well. "We have ensured that patients do not suffer. We have allowed patients' applications for assistance under the Odisha State Treatment Fund," said a house surgeon.

The hospital administration seemed not much worried over the strike by 150 house surgeons. Administrative officer Pratap Kumar Mishra said: "Patient service has not been affected in any way. But, we hope the house surgeons will resume duty soon."

But, the disruption in academic duties because of class boycott by MBBS students, expressing solidarity for the house surgeons, led the college authorities to convene a council meeting in the afternoon. "The council had decided that a team of professors would try to persuade the house surgeons to call off their strike by Thursday night," Mishra said.

Official sources said the authorities did not want the junior doctors or postgraduate students (who silently supported the strike by wearing black badges) to join the strike as health services in the hospital would take a beating after that as they usually shoulder bulk of the work, including routine check-up of patients.

"You can gauge things from this. For example, the medicine department has seven OPD units registering a turnout of around 1,200 patients a day. Under normal circumstances, each unit is managed by two senior doctors, three senior residents, five junior doctors and five house surgeons," a senior doctor said.