NEW DELHI: Delhi witnessed its coldest day of the season as temperatures fell to 4.2°C, while air quality remained in the “severe” category, making even routine outdoor activity hazardous. Amid this environmental crisis, a stark and unsettling reality has emerged outside the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), one of India’s most reputed government hospitals a growing population of patients and attendants living on pavements, footpaths and roadsides as they wait for medical care.
Wrapped in thin blankets and lying on frozen concrete, patients from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and other States have turned public spaces into temporary shelters. Many say they were compelled to travel to Delhi after exhausting options in their home districts, drawn by AIIMS’s reputation for specialised treatment at low cost.
For them, the struggle does not begin inside hospital wards but at the gates.
Several patients point to the long waiting periods associated with online appointments, which can stretch into weeks or months.
For those with serious or progressive illnesses, waiting at home is not an option. Reaching Delhi and standing in physical queues remains the only perceived alternative. Lines reportedly form as early as 6 am and extend for hours, often without any assurance of securing an appointment.
Some patients say they have been waiting for nearly a week, sleeping outdoors through the night to retain their place.
Women and children are among the most visible sufferers. A woman from Bihar, who travelled with her five-year-old daughter, said she had no family support to leave the child behind. With no accommodation, she spends nights on the roadside and relies on food distributed by volunteers and sympathetic visitors. “We are here because treatment is necessary,” she said. “But surviving here is also a struggle.”
Non-governmental organisations and local residents have attempted to bridge the gap by providing meals, drinking water and blankets. Yet conditions remain far from humane. The makeshift resting areas lack basic sanitation, with stray dogs and rodents moving freely around patients sleeping near dustbins. In such circumstances, the risk of infection and further illness is evident.
Government-run vishram sadans near AIIMS are intended to provide shelter to outstation patients, but many allege that these facilities are overcrowded. Patients claim beds are unavailable, access is limited, or documentation requirements prove difficult for those already under stress. Hospital authorities and medical staff are widely aware of the situation, though systemic limitations are often cited.
The scenes outside AIIMS raise difficult questions about access, capacity and dignity in India’s public healthcare system.
While the institution remains a symbol of medical excellence, the conditions endured by those waiting outside suggest a troubling disconnect one where the promise of care is accompanied by an unspoken cost borne on Delhi’s cold pavements.