Waiting for AIIMS

Planned at the same time as AllIMS Jammu, the unfinished Awantipora hospital faces delays again, likely to miss its November 2025 deadline, leaving South Kashmir families to travel hours for critical care.

- Faizaan Bashir

Noor Ahmad, 58, of Kulgam, arrived at the Sheri-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences in Srinagar on a frigid November morning, carrying his wife, Shabana, who had been diagnosed with advanced breast cancer.

The roads from his village were icy and treacherous. By the time they reached the hospital, before sunrise, the corridors were already crowded.

IV poles teetered in narrow passageways. Patients leaned against walls. Families whispered in anxious tones. Every available seat was taken.

"This is the only place where serious treatment is available,” Noor said. “Every time we come, it feels like we are fighting for a spot, not for care.”

Residents of South Kashmir routinely make long journeys to SKIMS for serious medical conditions. Patients from Awantipora, Anantnag, Kulgam, and surrounding areas face twoto four-hour drives over snow-laden roads, clutching prescriptions and referral letters from local clinics.

In many cases, the trips end without treatment due to overcrowding.

In 2019, the government sanctioned two All India Institutes of Medical Sciences, one in Jammu and one in Awantipora. Both had been conceived in 2015, as part of a push to expand specialty healthcare across the region.

AIIMS Jammu, inaugurated in 2024, now operates with 750 beds, advanced oncology and trauma care, and robust programs in medical education and research. Recruitment of faculty and staff has eased patient burden and shortened travel times for many Jammu residents.