CPI(M) MP and former Kerala Minister K Radhakrishnan on Tuesday attributed the non-availability of an ambulance to transport a tribal woman's body to a failure by lower-level officials and assured appropriate action against those responsible.

Radhakrishnan said the state has "sufficient facilities and systems in place" to handle such situations, but incidents like this occur when officials fail allegedly to act promptly.

"The state government will intervene effectively in the matter. Appropriate action will be taken against those who failed to perform their duties," he told reporters in Delhi.

He further stated that the Minister for Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, a portfolio he once held, cannot be blamed as it is impossible to monitor everything.

"The alleged failure was at the lower level, not by the minister," he added.

The incident occurred in Wayanad district on Monday, where an 80-year-old tribal woman's body was transported to the public crematorium in an autorickshaw, allegedly due to the unavailability of an ambulance.

Television channels aired images of Chundamma, an elderly woman from the Veettichaal settlement in Edavaka Panchayat, Mananthavady, whose body was wrapped in a bedsheet and transported in an autorickshaw.

Chundamma died at her home in the hamlet, and her family reportedly waited for hours for an ambulance from the tribal development office to take the body to the crematorium, several kilometres away.

The incident triggered widespread criticism in the area.

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