Shah Chairs Review of Demographic Changes Committee

New Delhi: Union home minister Amit Shah on Saturday chaired a meeting of Ministry of Home Affairs officials to review arrangements for facilitating the high-level committee on demographic changes.

Officials said the ministry would provide logistical and administrative support for the functioning of the panel, which was constituted on May 26 following an announcement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the Red Fort last year.

The committee, headed by Prakash Prabhakar Naolekar, has been tasked with examining demographic changes, particularly in border areas, and will also study trends in metropolitan cities and industrial towns. The panel has already held its first meeting and finalised its agenda.

Other 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), MHA, is the member secretary.

According to the home ministry, demographic changes in certain regions are not attributable to normal fertility or mortality trends but are linked to factors such as illegal immigration, population mobility and administrative lapses. These changes, initially observed in border districts, have extended to urban centres, industrial corridors and tribal areas, affecting governance, resource distribution and social cohesion.

The ministry said the existing institutional framework was not adequately equipped for a coordinated and time-bound response to such shifts.

The committee has been mandated to submit its report within one year, examining causes including fertility variations, cross-border movement and socio-economic factors. It will also recommend measures for identification, detention and deportation of illegal immigrants.