retirement of the latter. Shri Damodar Sarangi, IPS (WB:72) retired as Director General (Investigation) of the Commission on 31 December 2007. 1.7 The Annual Reports of the Commission serve as essential sources of information on the human rights situation in the country. The present Annual Report too gives an account of the actions taken by the Commission on various human rights issues including individual complaints, as also its concerns and accomplishments. With every passing year, a conviction has grown in the Commission that the right to life with dignity requires respect for the totality of the human person. This has further led to reaffirmation of the fact that it is essential for the Commission to focus, in equal measure, on economic, social and cultural rights, just as it does on civil and political rights. The indivisibility and inter-related nature of rights is an indisputable reality as there is a symbiosis between them. This precisely is the reason that the Commission during the year under review made all out efforts to focus on all rights, as the current report narrates. 1.8 There is no denial of the fact that despite having an impressive constitutional, legislative and institutional framework and a record of achievements by NHRC, the Government and its agencies, as well as the civil society at large, the protection and promotion of human rights in India continues to be a formidable challenge even after more than half a century of freedom. The old and new obstacles to be surmounted for the full realization of human rights include poverty, illiteracy, corruption, increase in acts of terrorism and lack of a consistent political and administrative will in implementing many existing laws which concern human rights. The challenge before us today is to tackle these problems and endeavour for scrupulous implementation of the constitutional guarantees, international commitments and domestic laws relating to human rights. The efforts of the Union and all State Governments/Union Territory Administrations, autonomous bodies, civil society and citizenry should be directed towards this end. 1.9 The Commission is not alone in its mission of protecting and promoting human rights. In recent years, several non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have been fighting for the human rights of citizens, especially of disadvantaged groups. The Government Departments also have undertaken initiatives and launched programmes aimed at guaranteeing various human rights -be it education, health or the empowerment of the vulnerable. 1.10 However, the Commission is constrained to point out the reverse image of this situation too. Several State Governments/Union Territory Administrations and Ministries/Departments of the Central Government have delayed — if not effectively undone — the work of the Commission by their inaction towards its inquiries, notices and recommendations. It is disheartening to note that several cases before the Commission have not been resolved because the office of the concerned State Government/Union Territory Administration has not filed its reply or not complied with the Commission's orders in a case or submitted an action taken report. 2 National Human Rights Commission