Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi interacting with patients outside AIIMS, Delhi.
| Photo Credit: AICC

Highlighting the plight of hundreds of patients and their family members outside the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has written to Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda and Delhi Chief Minister Atishi, urging them to take concrete steps to resolve the “humanitarian crisis”.

The letter, which was released on Monday, comes days after Mr. Gandhi visited several spots outside the premier medical institute, where he met patients and their family members who had come for treatment.

In his letter dated January 18 to Mr. Nadda, the Congress leader drew the Minister’s attention to the “distressing situation” outside AIIMS. Mr. Gandhi said he was saddened to see hundreds of patients and their family members huddled on the footpath and in the subway outside in the bitter cold, without drinking water or sanitation facilities, and only thin blankets to protect them.

‘Provide amenities’

“As public representatives, we must all work together to address these issues. I urge you to take immediate and timely steps to address the situation. The government of India should work with the AIIMS leadership, the government of Delhi and charitable organisations to provide heating, bedding, water, and shelter to patients and expand permanent facilities for accommodation,” Mr. Gandhi stated in the letter.

In his letter to Ms. Atishi, Mr. Gandhi urged the Delhi government to explore “more permanent solutions to accommodate patients by building and expanding permanent facilities” in partnership with AIIMS, the Centre, and charitable groups.