Government forms high-level committee to examine unnatural demographic changes
NEW DELHI, MAY 26 : Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday announced the formation of a high-level committee to examine what he described as “unnatural demographic change” caused by illegal immigration and other unspecified factors, calling the issue a major challenge to India’s sovereignty, national security, social balance, and the preservation of tribal societies.
In a post on X, he pointed out that the panel’s formation was promised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Independence Day last year.
“Infiltration and other reasons causing Unnatural Demographic Change pose a very significant challenge to the present and future of any nation. To address this very challenge, on 15 August 2025, Prime Minister [Narendra Modi] ji had announced the ‘High-Level Committee on Demographic Change’. I am delighted to inform you that the government has now constituted this committee,” the Home Minister wrote.
Shah said that the committee will be chaired by retired Supreme Court Justice Prakash Prabhakar Naolekar and include former IAS officer Durga Shankar Mishra, ex-IPS officer Balaji Srivastava, and economist Dr Shamika Ravi and the Census Commissioner as members. “The Joint Secretary (Foreigners-I), Ministry of Home Affairs, will serve as the Member Secretary of this committee,” he added.
The Home Minister said that the committee will conduct a comprehensive assessment of “demographic changes occurring across India due to illegal immigration and other unnatural causes.”
He further said that the panel will analyse the pattern of abnormal population shifts at the levels of religious and social communities, and will “present a planned and time-bound solution for the same.”
The announcement is expected to trigger a wider political debate, with the issue of illegal migration and demographic shifts remaining a recurring flashpoint in several states, particularly in border regions.
The announcement by Shah came on a day he visited the Border Security Force’s (BSF’s) Sanchu outpost in Rajasthan’s Bikaner district. Addressing the border guarding force’s personnel, he said the Centre had expanded the BSF’s jurisdiction to 50 kilometres from the International Border, keeping in mind the emerging security challenges such as infiltration, smuggling and drone-based narcotics trafficking.
He also stressed the need to remain vigilant against demographic changes caused by cross-border infiltration and said agencies should closely monitor activities in villages located near the border.
-PTI
