Address issues faced by Attappadi tribals: Cong

Thiruvananthapuram: The opposition Congress on Thursday sought the immediate intervention of the Kerala government to ensure better medical care and infrastructure facilities including roads and bridges in Attappadi, one of the largest tribal settlements in the southern state.

Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly V D Satheesan sent a letter to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan stressing the need for an emergency action plan citing the recent plight of a pregnant woman who had to be carried in a cloth sling by her relatives through forest paths as ambulance could not reach the hamlet.

Local television channels recently aired visuals of the hapless woman, who experienced labour pain in the wee hours and was carried to the ambulance through treacherous pathways in Kadukamanna hamlet by the family members, which triggered widespread debate.

In the letter, Satheesan said as there was no transportation facility in the settlement, relatives had to carry her and walk for three kilometers to reach the ambulance. Quoting the relatives, he also alleged that though the family had sought the ambulance service soon after she started experiencing labour pain, it reached the nearby place only after some hours.

Appropriate action should be taken if there was any lapse from the side of officials in connection with the incident, he demanded. "The opposition has pointed out in the Assembly and outside several times the neglect and insecurity being faced by the Attappadi tribal community, who need special attention and care from the government and general public," he said.

As many as 12,000 families are there in 192 settlements of Sholayar, Puthur and Agali panchayats of the tribal belt, he said, adding the authorities have failed to completely eliminate deaths of children due to malnutrition in the region.

Though the government says that it is spending crores of rupees in Attappadi, the reality is that the tribal community is not getting any benefit from it, the letter further charged. A copy of the letter was also sent to K Radhakrishnan, Minister for the Welfare of Backward and Scheduled Communities.