Cuttack, March 18: House surgeons at the state government’s three medical college hospitals have demanded a hike in monthly stipend to Rs 25,000, which is nearly double than what they are getting.

The 450 house surgeons at SCB Medical College Hospital (Cuttack), VSS Medical College Hospital (Burla) and MKCG Medical College Hospital (Berhampur), under the aegis of All-Odisha House Surgeons’ Association (AOHSA), are observing a silent protest by wearing black badges to press for their demand while performing their duties.

“We are asking for a hike of Rs 11,665 per month with retrospective effect from January 2012. The government has been paying Rs 13,335 as monthly stipend to house surgeons since December 2010,” AOHSA’s SCB unit president Sidharth Pattanayak said.

The association had submitted its demand in the form of a memorandum to the chief minister in December last year. “As there was no response from the government, the house surgeons were left with no option but to resort to peaceful and silent protest from today by wearing black badges while coming to work,” he said.

House surgeons are a vital section of the medical services in the three medical college hospitals as they perform basic functions such as attending to and monitoring treatment of patients, round the clock.

“The stipend accorded to us is not commensurate with the demands of the job,” said Avinash Ray, general secretary of the AOHSA’s SCB unit. “It is also less than the monthly stipend provided in Bengal (Rs 24, 741),” he said.

The state government had last hiked the monthly stipend of house surgeons from Rs 8,640 to Rs 13,335 in March 2011 with effect from December 2010 after house surgeons in the three medical college hospitals put on black badges for over 40 days as part of their agitation for increase in stipend.

Their monthly stipend was increased to Rs 8,640 from Rs 5,000 in February 2009.