Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) will remain shut for half day on January 22 in view of the Ram Temple inauguration in Ayodhya, it said Saturday. Its out-patient department (OPD) will remain closed until 2.30 pm, though emergency and critical services units will function normally. Similar arrangements have been put in place at the other Central Government hospitals in the Capital, including the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital. This comes after the Centre Thursday ordered half day for all offices, institutions and industrial establishments under it across the country “to enable employees to participate in celebrations” in view of the Ayodhya event. Citing the Centre’s order, a memorandum issued by the AIIMS administration Saturday said, “The Government of India has declared 22nd January, 2024 half day closing till 14:30 hrs… as Ram Lalla Pran Pratistha at Ayodhya will be celebrated across India.” “Since AIIMS Delhi is on high alert for one month till February 21, critical clinical services will remain functional, the memorandum added. The memorandum, signed by AIIMS Administrative officer Rajesh Kumar, did not mention whether OPD services will be hit, but Dr Rima Dada, the professor in-charge of AIIMS Media cell, said “all OPD appointments are being rescheduled”. Elective surgeries will also be deferred, Dada said. “Critical clinical services will be functional. If any patients come, we will try to accommodate them. Evening OPDs will be functional,” she added. On an average, around 15,000 patients visit the AIIMS OPD daily. AIIMS officials said the hospital’s ‘patient care coordinators’ will be informing patients with scheduled appointments of the revised dates through SMS. At Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital, all routine services including OPD, lab tests, administrative work will remain shut till 2.30 pm and emergency services will function, its administration said. Critical services will function as usual, the hospital added. At Safdarjung Hospital, while emergency services will remain on, OPD registration, which starts at 8 am, will end at 10 am instead of the usual 11:30 am. A circular issued by the hospital administration said lab services will also be available only till 11.30 am and pharmacy will run till 12.00 noon. Elective surgeries will remain closed, the circular added. Similarly at Lady Hardinge Medical College, the OPD registration will be allowed only from 8-10am.
