- The committee will assess demographic shifts and suggest solutions including identification and deportation
- Justice Prakash Prabhakar Naolekar (Retd) will head the committee with senior officials as members
- The committee will analyse population shifts by religious and social communities and propose frameworks
A high-level committee to study the changes in Indian demography has been formed - fulfilling a promise made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the ramparts of the Red Fort. The committee will not only undertake a comprehensive assessment of the demographic changes across India due to "illegal migration and other anomalous factors" and analyse the situation but also suggest ways of addressing the situation including through identification, detention and deportation.
The committee is expected to submit its report within a year but can get an extra six months if needed.
Making the announcement in a post on X, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said such an unnatural change in demography - driven by infiltration and other factors - poses a monumental challenge to the present and future of any nation.
Headed by Justice Prakash Prabhakar Naolekar (Retd), the committee will comprise the Census Commissioner, retired IAS and IPS officers Durga Shankar Mishra and Balaji Srivastava.
Among other things, the committee will analyse the patterns of abnormal population shifts at the level of various religious and social communities and will propose a systematic and time-bound framework for addressing these issues.
It will also recommend a streamlined and sustainable operational system for time-bound identification, detention, and deportation of illegal immigrants already residing in the country.
It can also recommend an appropriate institutional mechanism for strengthening border management, population stabilisation, and identification systems.
The committee may recommend any other measure it deems appropriate to address the challenges arising from demographic changes.
