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Key Points:
Patients and caretakers from several states are forced to spend nights on footpaths and inside the AIIMS subway, as shelter homes operate at full capacity. They stay nearby to line up early for OPD consultations, highlighting severe accommodation distress.
Following media coverage, the Delhi High Court took suo motu cognizance on January 14, 2026, directing authorities to provide relief. Temporary shelter tents were set up near the AIIMS Trauma Centre, but facilities remain stretched and inadequate.
Despite food, bedding, and tents being provided by DUSIB and NGOs, sanitation conditions at the shelter camps remain poor, with dirty and foul-smelling toilets. Officials cited heavy daily usage and lack of sewage outlets as persistent challenges.
“It is cold here, but what can we do? The occupancy in Rain Basera (Shelter Homes) is full, we cannot afford to go anywhere else, we are compelled to sleep on the ground here”, said Shashi Devi, a patient from Uttar Pradesh who is staying inside the subway near Gate number 3 of AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Science) Metro station, New Delhi.
Numerous other patients and their caretakers face similar distress, who have to spend nights inside the subway near AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences) Hospital. These are the patients who sleep nearby so that they can line up early for the queue for OPD (Outpatient Department) consultation. This depicts a highly critical condition in the national capital of the world’s fourth largest economy, where people are forced to spend their nights on the streets.
Newsgram conducted a ground coverage of the subway at Gate Number 3 of AIIMS Metro Station, the Shelter Homes nearby, and the ones near the AIIMS JP Narayan Apex Trauma Centre (including the CRPF Camp for OPD Patients). Based on the ground report conducted during the intervening nights of January 28, 2026 and January 29, 2026, this news article outlines the steps taken by authorities to provide temporary relief, while highlighting the critical issues that remain unaddressed.
Patients previously used to lie down on the footpaths in front of Gate number 1 at the entrance of AIIMS Hospital, in freezing winters. After extensive media coverage brought the plights of people to light, the Delhi High Court took a suo motu cognizance of the issue on January 14, 2026, and ordered the Delhi Government, and AIIMS authorities to provide relief to the people.
After the Delhi High Court directed the authorities, the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB), the NDMC (New Delhi Municipal Corporation), and AIIMS sprung into action. Around 18-20 shelter tents (pagodas) were installed at a site near the AIIMS Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Centre, near the Safdurjang Enclave.
An official (Assistant Nodal Officer) of the DUSIB, enforced at the site, said that the area got allocated to DUSIB on January 15, 2026, and we started setting up shelter tents there.
The DUSIB official said further: “The camp started functioning on January 17, 2026, and has an occupancy of about 400 people. We provide shelter relief to anyone, be it homeless or patients at AIIMS or Safdarjung Hospital. Two meals (lunch and dinner) are provided in a day, along with tea in the morning. We also provide blankets, bedding and the shelter tents are built on temporary wooden floorings, that do not cause excessive cold from the floors. A drinking water facility is also there, and portable toilets are installed.”
Upon close inspection of the site however, it was found that the toilets were dirty and foul smelling. When asked about these observations, the official responded by saying that about 300-400 people continuously use the toilet facility throughout the day. “There is no sewage outlet, but the waste is stored and sucked every night for removal and disposal. Since so many people use the washroom daily, the foul smell is there, but we are working on it.”
Also, every tent had posters displaying images of Delhi CM Rekha Gupta and PM Narendra Modi. When the official was asked about this, he mentioned that he couldn’t comment on the branding or advertisement of the government. When he was further asked that the money spent on unnecessary advertisement could be used for building more accommodation and shelter care, the official said that he was only doing his duty of managing the camp and allocating shelter care to the people.
The official also said that the shelter camp was running at its full capacity. DUSIB was working hand in hand with an NGO - SYMP, so that a proper number of volunteers were enforced at the site, for smooth operational running. DUSIB also has about five shelter tents (with a capacity of 20 beds each) near Gate number 3 and 5 of the AIIMS Metro Station. SYMP volunteers are working there to provide bedding, blankets, food and water to the homeless, patients and their caretakers.
The problem of accommodation crisis is still at large, because the shelter homes are operating at full capacity. Due to this, many people are forced to spend their nights inside the Subway. Following the Delhi High Court’s directions, authorities have allocated the subway for night shelter as a last resort.
Harendra Chowdhary, from UP, who is here for the treatment for his four month old baby, told about the excruciating conditions he has to face for his child’s treatment. “There was a problem with my four month old baby, he required a heart stent operation. I have been here for 2-3 months now, staying on the streets. Before here (inside the subway), we (Harender and his family) were staying on the footpath near Gate number 1 of the AIIMS Metro Stations. Our whole family used to sleep in the open sky, under a makeshift tent (composed of Tarpaulin). Then the police and security forcefully removed us. Here also, initially, security guards sprayed cold water to remove us”, said Harender.
Another patient, an old woman, who wished to be unnamed, told that she was here for her heart’s operation. “We are forced to stay in the cold here. We went to the shelter homes, but the capacity there is full. What can we do now, we don’t have money to stay somewhere else?”
Naval Kishore Yadav, senior citizen and a heart patient from Bihar, said that it is very hard for them to stay out here, in the cold. “We are poor people, we are just trying to accommodate ourselves here. There is no proper facility of staying here, we just do whatever we can to lie on the footpaths and inside the subway”, added Naval Kishore. He also mentioned that previously, he visited Patna AIIMS Hospital (Bihar) but the facility there was not good, and he did not receive proper consultation and treatment. He further said: “I was referred to BHU (Banaras Hindu University) Hospital, and then they referred me to Delhi AIIMS, saying that there was no other place that could treat me.”
The plights of poor people are not only limited to the accommodation crisis at AIIMS, New Delhi. Many patients said that they are from several parts of India (UP, Bihar, West Bengal and other states), and couldn’t find proper treatment in their cities.
Niranjan Rai, 42 from Purnia, Bihar said that he has been staying here for about a month for his daughter’s treatment. Niranjan said: “My daughter underwent a hip operation here (AIIMS Delhi) on January 21, 2026. Initially, my daughter’s treatment was done at Patna AIIMS (Bihar), but it was an unsuccessful surgery. After that, I was referred to Delhi AIIMS and applied for consultation around July 2024, but my number came on July 12, 2026. I have had to suffer because of the failed operation at Patna AIIMS.”
Many patients had similar stories to say, where they couldn’t afford operations at private hospitals in their cities, or the government hospitals were not functioning properly due to which they had to face a lot of troubles. Their stories highlight a failed health administration of several states.
Rajkumar, 35, from Bulandshahr, UP, said that her mother was facing a lot of problems. He said: “I took my mother to treatment at Lakshmi Hospital, Bulandshahr. She was vomiting a lot. I don’t know what problems they found, but they removed her gall bladder in the operation. After that, I immediately took her here, to AIIMS, and are awaiting our consultation. When I go back, I will complain about the wrong operation to authorities.”
AIIMS doctors provide referrals to patients and their caretakers who can stay in AIIMS Vishram Sadan Complexes. However, due to a shortage of beds, many patients and their attendants do not get accomodation. According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the total accommodation capacity (including the main campus at Ansari Nagar, AIIMS JP Narayan Apex Trauma Centre and NCI (National Cancer Institute) Jhajjar) is about 1500 beds.
AIIMS Director, Dr. M Srinivas, informed earlier that patients and their attendants should book online appointments for AIIMS Vishram Sadans in an interview to ANI on January 4, 2026. He also said that Vishram Sadan Complexes are available in the public domain, is a transparent system, and people should utilise it. AIIMS New Delhi informed the Delhi High Court on January 16, 2026, that a new, larger Vishram Sadan complex is being planned for the Ansari Nagar West campus, with an increased accommodation of about 3000 beds.
An Ashray (Shelter Care) facility has also been established (2023) near the AIIMS JP Narayan Trauma Centre, with the coordination of AIIMS Delhi and CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force). A CRPF personnel deployed at the site said that about 200 beds are there in about 12-15 shelter tents.
The Ashray facility is for the patients who have to visit OPD in the morning, and for their attendants. A shuttle bus operates daily in the morning, at about 4 am to transport patients and their caretakers from the camp, and also from the Ran Basera located adjacent to the AIIMS OPD department. The northern sector of Delhi CRPF runs the camp.
Although the Ashray facility provides good accommodation and food, the chilling nights of winters however pose many challenges. Many patients and their attendants have to wait in long queues to get their numbers, and the huge numbers of patients amount to accommodation shortage.
The shelter camp set near the AIIMS Trauma Centre will function till March 15, 2026, according to the Winter Action Plan taken by the Delhi Government authorities. The shelter homes near the AIIMS Metro Station will also remain till March 15, 2026. The Delhi High Court had also directed the government to build action plans for the upcoming summer season. As of now, the Delhi government has not made any official statement regarding the upcoming summer action plan for the shelter camps.
This raises an important question: What will happen after March 15, 2026? The patients and their attendants will again have to face accommodation crisis in the scorching heat of summers. The existing DDMA (Delhi Disaster Management Authority) Heat Action Plan, meanwhile, has long been criticised for its limited on-ground implementation, focusing largely on advisories and inter-departmental coordination, while failing to ensure adequate cooling shelters, water access, sanitation, and targeted outreach for the most vulnerable.
The absence of a clear, time-bound summer plan risks pushing already distressed patients and attendants back onto pavements and subways, this time under life-threatening heatwave conditions. The question, therefore, is not merely one of seasonal preparedness, but of accountability: can a government that acts only after judicial intervention claim to be safeguarding the dignity, health, and basic survival of those who depend on public institutions for care?
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