Govt forms high-level panel on demographic change

• The Ministry of Home Affairs has constituted a high-level committee to study the demographic changes arising from illegal immigration and other abnormal reasons, and to suggest measures to deal with these demographic changes. 

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the ‘High-powered Demography Mission’ on August 15, 2025. 

• The Union Cabinet gave its approval to this proposal on September 11, 2025.

• The committee will be chaired by retired Supreme Court judge Justice Prakash Prabhakar Naolekar and will also include the Census Commissioner, along with retired IAS officer Durga Shankar Mishra, former IPS officer Balaji Srivastava and Shamika Ravi as members.

• The Joint Secretary (Foreigners-I), Ministry of Home Affairs, will be the Member Secretary of the Committee. 

• The committee will submit its report within one year. 

• If necessary, the ministry may extend the tenure of the committee by up to six months.

Purpose of the committee:

The proposed structure and Terms of Reference of the Committee are:

i) To comprehensively deliberate upon the challenges arising from demographic changes, including illegal immigration.

ii) To study the possible causes of such demographic changes, such as cross-border activities (including illegal immigration), economic opportunities, and other socio-environmental factors.

iii) To identify the underlying factors behind these changes, which include illegal immigration, abnormal settlement patterns, and orchestrated migration.

iv) To analyse structural population changes at the level of religious or social communities, particularly where they deviate from broader trends.

v) To 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.

vi) To recommend an appropriate institutional mechanism to strengthen border management, population stabilisation, and identification systems for the continuous monitoring of such trends.

vii) To 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.

viii) The committee may recommend any other measures it deems appropriate to address the challenges arising from demographic changes, including illegal immigration.