A Long Wait For A Vital Hospital

The AIIMS Awantipora beginning OPD services before December 2026, with IPD services from July 2027 and MBBS classes in the 2027-28 session, is welcome. It is also, frankly, overdue. The project was approved by the Union Cabinet in January 2019. Seven years later, patients in south Kashmir are still waiting for the hospital to open its doors. That delay deserves to be named clearly, not hidden behind fresh deadlines. Why does it matter so much? Because AIIMS Awantipora is not a prestige project. It is a necessity. Today, a patient from Pulwama or Shopian who needs specialised treatment must travel to Srinagar, to SKIMS or SMHS, and wait in long queues. For the poor, the journey itself is a cost. For the critically ill, the journey can be the difference between life and death. A 750-bed hospital with modern equipment, trained faculty and a medical college would change that reality for lakhs of people. The details released after the Union Health Minister’s review are encouraging: major buildings completed, procurement approved for 180 equipment items worth Rs 59.41 crore, 652 personnel cleared for the OPD rollout, and — importantly — 100 MBBS seats instead of the 50 announced earlier. That last point is significant. It means the institute will not just treat patients but train the doctors Kashmir needs for decades to come. But the past seven years teach us one lesson: deadlines slip. The March 2027 construction deadline, the December 2026 OPD target, the July 2027 IPD date — all of these must be tracked publicly. The government should publish progress every quarter, not once a year. The project is good. The intention is good. What has been missing is speed. Kashmir’s patients have waited long enough. Let this time be different.