5.4 Regional Office, Batticaloa Introduction The Regional Office, Batticaloa covers the District of Batticaloa. There are eight employees of the Commission serving at the regional office. The population of this district is about 581,223 and the extent is around 2633 square kilometers. There are 14 Divisional Secretariats, 330 government schools and 12 Police Stations available within the District. Majority of the people living in this district are engaged either in farming or fishing. There are three Members of Parliament representing the Batticaloa District and out of them one holds a Ministerial portfolio whilst the other two more Deputy Ministerial Portfolios. It should be noted that the activities of the Provincial Council and the Pradeshiya Sabha within the District  in  year  2013  and  the  ‘Deyata  Kirula  (Empowering  the  Nation)  Exhibition’  held  in  Ampara   District have developed the area very much, including the roads. Enhancement of the outlook of the city of Batticaloa, reconstruction of the famous Kalladi Bridge and the Vachchathivu Bridge are few development activities. The cultural programmes held with the participation of the Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslim Communities was an important milestone. It should be specially noted that recruitment of persons with special needs to jobs in public sector offices in the district has increased. Protection of Human Rights Handing of Complaints The total number of complaints received by this office within the year was 452. 458 persons visited the Commission seeking advice and a special feature was that most of them were women. Categorization of complaints – Regional Office Batticaloa Nature of the Complaint Personal freedom No. of Complaints Torture 04 Intimidation 31 Degrading treatment 67