Annual Report 2013-14 Statement Issued by NHRC on the Naxalite Attack in Chhattisgarh 2.29 Appalled by the savage attack in Chhattisgarh on 25 May 2013 in which many persons were killed by the Naxalites, the Commission issued a statement condemning the attack and urged the Naxalites to abandon their violence which made matter worse for the villages whose cause they claim to espouse. ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS NHRC Team Visits Lakshadweep 2.30 A team of NHRC officers visited Lakshadweep Islands from 26 to 29 April 2013 to look into issues of human rights violations, review the status of implementation of Commission’s recommendations and sensitize the officers of the UT Administration. During the course of the visit, a public hearing was also held where complaints about human rights violations were directly received from the complainants. 2.31 Thereafter, a team led by Justice Shri D. Murugesan, Member, NHRC again visited Lakshadweep from 24 to 28 February 2014 to review the steps taken by the Union Territory Administration after the NHRC team’s first visit. Meeting of NHRC Core Group on Health 2.32 A meeting of the NHRC Core Group on Health was organized in the Commission on 20 June 2013 under the chairmanship of Shri S. C. Sinha, Member, NHRC. The meeting focused on themes which needed to be deliberated upon in the National Conference on Health Care as a Human Right that it organized in New Delhi on 5 and 6 November 2013. The details are given in Chapter 5 of the Annual Report that deals with “Right to Health”. On-the-Spot Assessment of Uttarakhand Calamity 2.33 NHRC team headed by Smt. Kanwaljit Deol, Director General (Investigation) visited Uttarakhand from 15 to 18 July 2013 for an on-the-spot assessment of the situation in the aftermath of natural calamity causing loss of human lives and property. The team held meeting with senior officers of the State Government in Dehradun. It also held a meeting with the NGOs and visited the worst affected areas. The team made an assessment of various aspects including number of deaths, relief camps, accessibility of food and drinking water, arrangements for rehabilitation of affected people, medical facilities, safety and security measures, arrangements for the last rites of the dead, restoration of infrastructure, disaster management system, monetary relief, etc. NHRC | 11