Life and Death at AIIMS: A Report on Construction Accidents and the Course of Justice

On 9th March 2016, the media reported an accident at a construction site of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi in which two workers were killed and three were injured. In less than 35 days, on 13th April 2016, another accident took place at the same construction site in which one worker died and two were severely injured. It is no ordinary site and happens to be the new Mother and Child Ward in premier Medical Research and Hospital, AIIMS. As per the media reports FIRs were registered against the construction company, enquiry committees were set up and compensations were announced. Over five months having lapsed since the first accident and four months since the second, the fate of compensations announced and the criminal investigation process, still hangs in the balance. Contrary to the ‘fast track’ response of the Delhi government as well as the AIIMS authorities in announcing compensation and registering criminal cases, PUDR fact-finding reveals the reality about dangerous working conditions, lack of accountability and criminal liability, and discrepancies in the process of granting compensation. [PUDR Report].