The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on Friday informed the Delhi High Court that it has provided land to the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) for setting up around 80 night shelters, and is also planning to build a 3,000-bed rest house for attendants of patients braving the cold on the streets.
The development came during the hearing of a suo motu public interest case taken up by a bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia, after the court took cognisance of a news report highlighting the “pitiable condition” of patients and their families forced to stay outdoors while awaiting treatment at AIIMS.
Advocate Satya Ranjan Swain, representing AIIMS, submitted that apart from the 949 beds already available across three shelter homes, a long-term plan was in motion to construct a 3,000-bed Vishram Sadan in Ansari Nagar West on a two-acre plot. The initiative, he said, would be executed in collaboration with an NGO based in Ahmedabad.
Describing the initiative as a “patient-centric” and humanitarian response, the counsel said AIIMS is committed to ensuring that “no attendant is left without dignified shelter in this weather.”
Appreciating the plan, Chief Justice Upadhyaya called upon the Delhi High Court Bar Association to contribute. “Activate members of the Bar so that some kind of fund is created and donated (to AIIMS),” he said, recalling the legal fraternity’s past generosity during the Punjab floods.
The bench urged all authorities to extend cooperation for the speedy construction of the rest house and expressed hope that it would be completed “within minimum time possible.”
Responding to the court’s earlier direction, Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma said a meeting of all stakeholders had taken place and action was initiated to ensure that “not a single person had cold biting him.”
The DUSIB counsel informed the court that 20 new pagodas had been installed near AIIMS and Safdarjung, with more being added. Twenty tents each were also set up near RML Hospital and Lady Hardinge Hospital.
Meanwhile, Delhi Police appointed nodal officers for 24×7 surveillance. The NDMC provided water and mobile toilets, and the Principal District Judge (South) submitted that blankets had been distributed and tents erected wherever possible.
The court, while appreciating the coordinated action, observed, “We have a feeling that in the last two days, situation has improved,” and noted that authorities were “acting in right earnest.”
The bench directed that nodal officers continue to maintain “constant vigil” and asked for another meeting of all stakeholders to be chaired by the Principal District Judge (South) on January 24. The matter will next be heard on January 27.
The suo motu petition originated from a January 12 report describing the inhumane conditions faced by patient attendants sleeping in the open during the peak of Delhi’s cold wave. The division bench of Justices C Hari Shankar and Om Prakash Shukla had then stated the issue required “urgent executive and judicial intervention.”
Earlier this week, the High Court had stressed that the government, as part of a welfare state, has a duty to ensure adequate shelter for those awaiting medical care, particularly at major hospitals like AIIMS, RML, Safdarjung Trauma Centre, Lady Hardinge, and VMMC.
