NEW DELHI: Authorities have formed a high-level panel to examine shifts in population patterns resulting from illegal immigration and related factors.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah posted on X that the panel will be led by former Supreme Court Justice Prakash Prabhakar Naolekar. Members include the Census Commissioner, former IAS officer Durga Shankar Mishra, former IPS officer Balaji Srivastava and economist Shamika Ravi. The Joint Secretary (Foreigners-I) from the Home Ministry will act as member secretary.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the panel during his Independence Day address from the Red Fort the previous year.
Shah stated that infiltration and other causes are producing unnatural population changes, presenting a major issue for any country’s present and future. He noted the matter affects sovereignty, national security, law and order, social structures and tribal communities.
The panel is tasked with assessing demographic alterations across India from unlawful migration and similar causes. It will review unusual population movements among religious and social groups and propose scheduled remedies.
Modi had warned last year that the country’s population makeup was being altered under a planned scheme, with infiltrators affecting youth employment, targeting women and displacing tribal lands.
A 2024 report by the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister indicated the Hindu share of the population dropped from 84 percent in 1950 to 78 percent in 2015, while the Muslim share increased from 9.84 percent to 14.09 percent. Separate research from the Centre for Policy Studies in Kerala found Muslim fertility rates remained higher than those of Hindus. Additional analysis in Economic and Political Weekly showed over 70 percent of districts experienced a fall in Hindu populations from 2001 to 2011.
