- The Centre has constituted a high-level committee to address the challenges of demographic change caused by infiltration and other reasons.
- In a social media post, Union Home Minister Amit Shah informed that the committee will be chaired by former Supreme Court Judge Justice Prakash Prabhakar Naolekar.
- Census Commissioner, along with former IAS officer Durga Shankar Mishra, former IPS officer Balaji Srivastava and economist Dr. Shamika Ravi have been appointed as members of the committee. The Joint Secretary (Foreigners-I) in Home Ministry will serve as the Member Secretary in the committee.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech from Red Fort last year had announced about the High-Level Committee on Demographic Change.
- Mr Shah said that infiltration and other reasons are causing unnatural demographic change which poses a very significant challenge to the present and future of any nation.
- He said demographic Change is a serious issue linked not only to sovereignty but also to national security, law and order, profound changes in social structure and the preservation of tribal society.
- The Home Minister said, the committee will conduct a comprehensive assessment of demographic changes occurring across India due to illegal immigration and other unnatural causes.
- It will also analyze patterns of abnormal population shifts at the levels of religious and social communities and present a planned and time-bound solution for the same.
- The high-level committee will conduct a scientific evaluation of the demographic changes taking place in different regions of the country due to illegal immigration and other unusual factors, examine their causes, and suggest suitable policy, legislative, and administrative interventions, a government statement said.
- According to the Terms of Reference of the committee, it will comprehensively deliberate upon the challenges arising from demographic changes, including illegal immigration.
- It will study the possible causes of demographic changes, such as cross-border activities (including illegal immigration), economic opportunities, and other socio-environmental factors, the statement said.
- The panel will also identify the underlying factors behind these changes, which include illegal immigration, abnormal settlement patterns, and orchestrated migration, it said.
- Further, the committee will analyse structural population changes at the level of religious or social communities, particularly where they deviate from broader trends.
- It will recommend a streamlined and permanent operational mechanism for the legal, fair, and time-bound identification, detention, and deportation of illegal immigrants already residing in the country, the statement said.
- The committee will also suggest an appropriate institutional mechanism to strengthen border management, population stabilization, and identification systems for the continuous monitoring of such trends, it said.
- In addition, it will propose a comprehensive policy framework to enhance coordination between the central and state governments on matters related to illegal immigration and the resulting demographic imbalances.
- The committee may also suggest any additional measures it considers necessary to address the challenges resulting from demographic changes, including illegal immigration.
- Speaking from the ramparts of the Red Fort in his Independence Day speech last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced a high-powered demographic mission to tackle the problem.
- Modi had said there was a “pre-meditated conspiracy” to change the country’s demography through illegal infiltration.
- “Today I want to alert the country about a concern, a challenge. Under a well-thought out conspiracy, the demography of the country is being changed. Seeds of a new crisis are being sown. These ‘ghuspaithiye’ (infiltrators) are snatching the livelihood of the youth of my country, these ‘ghuspaithiye’ are targeting the sisters and daughters of my country, this will not be tolerated,” he had said.
- The prime minister had also said that ‘ghuspaithiye’ are misleading the innocent tribals and grabbing their land.
- Modi had warned that when demographic changes take place, especially in the border areas, they create a national security crisis.