E/C.12/1993/16 page 3 preserving their culture and in teaching their language. It notes that although the Government publishes and distributes textbooks in 25 languages free of charge, overall government programmes devoted to these groups nevertheless remain inadequate. 9. The Committee is also concerned at the fact that a large segment of the population of Mexico have to endure inadequate living and housing conditions, without access to basic services such as sewage and potable water. 10. The Committee is concerned at the prevalence of forced evictions in both urban and rural areas of Mexico. Of particular concern to the Committee is the large number of people already evicted or threatened with eviction due to the lack of adequate protection. E. Suggestions and recommendations 11. The Committee recommends that efforts should be made to curb the decline in the purchasing power of the minimum wage and to redeploy certain budgetary resources to benefit the most vulnerable segments of society, and particularly children and persons living below the poverty line. Resources should be made available for indigenous groups to enable them to preserve their language, culture and traditional way of life, and at the same time to promote the economic, social and cultural rights provided for in the Covenant. The Committee recommends in particular that the State party should take energetic steps to mitigate any negative impact that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) might have on the enjoyment of the rights set out in the Covenant. 12. The Committee recommends that the Mexican Human Rights Commission should, in the future, devote greater attention to economic, social and cultural rights. 13. The Committee recommends that steps should be taken urgently to overcome the grave housing crisis in the country. It further recommends the speedy adoption of policies and measures designed to ensure adequate civic services, security of tenure and the availability of resources to facilitate access by low-income communities to affordable housing. The Committee also recommends the increased construction of rental housing, as well as adoption of other measures to enable Mexico to comply fully with its obligations under article 11 of the Covenant, as dealt with in General Comment No. 4 of the Committee. 14. The Committee urges the State party to desist from policy measures that lead to large-scale evictions. It recalls General Comment No. 4 in which it noted that "the Committee considers that instances of forced eviction are prima facie incompatible with the requirements of the Covenant and can only be justified in the most exceptional circumstances, and in accordance with the relevant principles of international law".