NEW DELHI: The Union Ministry of Home Affairs has issued a notification forming a high-level committee to examine demographic changes in India linked to illegal immigration and other unusual factors. The ministry said the impact of such changes is no longer limited to border districts and has now spread to urban centres, industrial corridors, tribal areas, and other socially and economically sensitive regions across the country.
The committee will be headed by retired Supreme Court judge Justice Prakash Prabhakar Naolekar. It was announced earlier by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who said the panel would study demographic changes caused by “illegal immigration and other unnatural causes”.
Based in New Delhi, the committee will include the Census Commissioner, retired IAS officer Durga Shankar Mishra, former IPS officer Balaji Srivastava, and economist Dr Shamika Ravi. The joint secretary in the foreigners’ division of the MHA will serve as the member secretary. The panel has been asked to submit its report within one year.
According to the notification, demographic changes have been noticed in some parts of the country that cannot be explained by normal fertility or mortality trends. The ministry said these changes are linked to factors such as illegal immigration, irregular population movement, and administrative laxity. The notification stated,
“Although these changes are most visibly concentrated in the border districts, their impact has extended beyond those areas, now affecting urban centres, industrial corridors, tribal regions and other socially and economically sensitive areas, thereby severely impacting public service delivery, local governance, resource distribution, and social cohesion.”
The MHA also said the current institutional system is not fully prepared to conduct a coordinated, evidence-based, and time-bound study of such demographic shifts. Therefore, the government decided to establish a committee to scientifically examine the nature, causes, and consequences of these changes and to suggest policy, administrative, and legal measures.
The panel will examine possible reasons for demographic changes, including fertility variations, cross-border migration, economic opportunities, abnormal settlement patterns, planned migration, and other socio-environmental factors. It will also examine structural population changes among religious and social communities, especially where trends differ sharply from broader patterns.
The committee will recommend a permanent system for the legal, fair, and time-bound identification, detention, and deportation of illegal immigrants living in the country. It will also suggest measures to strengthen border management, population stabilisation, identification systems, and coordination between the Centre and state governments for long-term monitoring of such demographic trends. The ministry said the committee would conduct extensive consultations before preparing its final recommendations for the government.
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