The idea of AIIMS arose in 1946, after a recommendation by the Health Survey of the Government of India. From then to the establishment and development of AIIMS (New Delhi) over the ensuing years, several illustrious individuals played their part in bringing the idea to fruition. Originally proposed by the then Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru for establishment in Calcutta, it was established in New Delhi following the refusal of Chief Minister of West Bengal Bidhan Chandra Roy. The foundation stone of AIIMS Delhi was laid in 1952. On February 18, 1956, the then Minister of Health, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, introduced a new bill in the Lok Sabha, that would eventually become the AIIMS Act.

“It has been one of my cherished dreams that for post graduate study and for the maintenance of high standards of medical education in our country, we should have an institute of this nature which would enable our young men and women to have their post graduate education in their own country,” she said. The old and new main OPD blocks at AIIMS, New Delhi are named after her. When the bill was adopted in May 1956, it became the All India Institute of Medical Sciences Act, 1956. She also gave her land about 100 acres for construction.