Every night, a stark humanitarian crisis unfolds just outside the gates of AIIMS Delhi, India’s largest government-run hospital. On pavements, stairways and patches of bare concrete, sick patients and their attendants are forced to sit or sleep in the open, battling winter cold, air pollution and rodents as they wait for a chance to access treatment inside the country’s premier medical institution.

The scenes remain similar across the year as patients arrive from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and other states. For many, long online waiting periods for appointments leave no option but to reach the hospital late at night and queue until morning in the hope of securing a slot.

Appointment counters open at 8 am, with no guarantee of registration, turning the wait itself into an ordeal that can worsen already fragile health conditions.

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Plight of a couple carrying 3-month-old sick child

A recent video posted by Peek TV showed the plight of a couple carrying their three-month-old child, who they said was suffering from a serious neurological condition involving fluid accumulation in the head.

The father alleged that they were repeatedly chased away while trying to rest near the hospital premises. “We were first taken to the emergency and then sent away. We slept near a tree outside but were asked to leave from there too. We went to a bus stand and were pushed out again,” he said in the video, filmed around 1 am. The couple, unable to find shelter even through the night, were told to return to meet a doctor at 9 am.

Another woman, wrapped in a quilt, was seen sitting on the steps of the nearby AIIMS Metro station in the same video. She said her son had suffered an eye injury in a motorcycle accident and had been referred from Patna. “There were no beds available. We were told to come back on January 16,” she said, speaking close to midnight.

Overburdened AIIMS and accommodation facilities

Earlier this month, AIIMS Director M Srinivas told NDTV that the institute handles around 15,000 outpatient department visits daily and has repeatedly urged patients to arrive only with prior appointments to avoid long queues.

He said AIIMS operates ‘Vishram Sadan’, a shelter facility with a capacity of about 1,500 beds for outstation patients. The facility can be booked online through the AIIMS Digital Allotment System after a doctor’s recommendation.

Srinivas also said that, with support from the CRPF, another shelter called ‘Ashray’ is operational, where patients and attendants found sleeping on the streets are transported using electric vehicles and provided free food, bedding and blankets.

However, according to patients interviewed by Peek TV, these facilities are insufficient for the volume of people arriving each day. The report noted that admission to ‘Ashray’ and ‘Vishram Sadan’ can involve immediate entry or waiting periods of one to two days, depending on bed availability, leaving many without immediate relief.

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Delhi HC’s observation on the matter

The situation has drawn judicial attention. The Delhi High Court on Friday reviewed measures taken by civic agencies, hospitals and government authorities to provide shelter and basic facilities to attendants forced to stay outdoors near major government hospitals during the winter.

The review was part of a suo motu case initiated to address the exposure of patients and attendants to extreme cold outside hospitals such as AIIMS, Safdarjung Hospital, Lady Hardinge Medical College and Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital.

Taking note of status reports and meeting records, the court observed that coordinated efforts are now visible on the ground but stressed the need for continuous monitoring to ensure that the measures translate into real and sustained relief.