Bhubaneswar, Aug. 30: A possible manpower crisis at AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, has been averted with extension of the term of senior resident doctors at the hospital.

The term of 60 senior resident doctors at the facility was supposed to end on August 31. This would have led to a crisis at the 330-bed referral hospital that is visited by patients from across the state.

"We have extended the term (of doctors) by 11 months. Hopefully, we will get a response from the health ministry and the issue will be resolved shortly," said a senior official at the institute.

While as many as 308 posts of senior residents were sanctioned for different departments, only 60 doctors appeared for the entrance test and interview held in December 2013.

In December 2013, the list of selected candidates was sent to the Union health ministry for approval. However, it has not sent any appointment order till date.

In view of an exigency, the director of the institute A.K. Mohapatra exercised his special authority to appoint doctors for a period of 11 months on contractual basis.

This term was supposed to end in May 2015.

In April, the director sent a reminder to the ministry requesting confirmation for appointment of the senior residents. Unsure about their status of appointment, a group of senior residents filed a petition in the court demanding clarification from the authorities on their status.

In its order, the court directed the authorities to take a proper decision about the fate of these senior residents at the earliest.

The health ministry, in a reply to the director's letter, asked him to take a "reasonable decision". Following this, the AIIMS authorities here extended the doctors' term in anticipation of final approval.

The hospital has been witnessing an overwhelming response with more than 1.5 lakh people visiting the out patient department and 6,600 indoor admissions in the past six months.

"AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, is doing very good in terms of facilities and performance. The third advertisement for faculty recruitment has been published and the list of 100 selected senior residents has been sent for approval," said Mohapatra.