India sets up panel to study demographic changes due to illegal immigration

Terming demographic changes due to illegal immigration as a major challenge to national security, India yesterday (26 May) announced the composition of a six-member high-level committee to study the demographic changes arising from illegal immigration and other abnormal reasons and to suggest measures to deal with these problems.  

The committee will also recommend a streamlined and permanent operational mechanism for legal, fair and time-bound identification, detention and deportation of illegal immigrants already residing in the country, a home ministry statement said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the "high-powered demography mission" on 15 August last year and the federal cabinet gave its approval to this proposal in less than a month.  

The committee, to be headed by retired Supreme Court judge Justice Prakash Prabhakar Navlekar, will submit its report within a year, the statement said.

Indian Home Minister Amit Shah said in a post on the X platform yesterday that "infiltration and other reasons leading to unnatural demographic change is a very big challenge for the present and future of any nation."

"Demographic change is a serious problem linked not only to our sovereignty but also to national security, law and order, major changes in social structure, and the protection of tribal societies," he wrote.

According to the home ministry statement, the committee will scientifically assess the demographic changes occurring due to illegal immigration and other abnormal reasons, analyse their causes and recommend appropriate policy, legislative, and administrative measures.

The panel will also study possible causes of demographic changes due to  cross-border activities (including illegal immigration), economic opportunities and other socio-environmental factors.

It will also analyse structural population changes at the level of religious or social communities, particularly where they deviate from broader trends and also recommend an appropriate institutional mechanism to strengthen border management, population stabilisation and identification systems for the continuous monitoring of such trends.

The committee will also 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.

Also, Shah, speaking at an event at Rajasthan's border with Pakistan yesterday, asked the Border Security Force to keep a watch on any unnatural demographic change occurring in villages situated within a 50-kilometer radius of the border and alert the local administration regarding any unauthorised construction.

He said since anti-national elements are misusing technology, that is why the Modi government has expanded the BSF's operational jurisdiction from 15 to 50 kilometers from the border.

Meanwhile, the home minister is likely to visit a number of forward BSF locations in border states, including West Bengal and Tripura, in June when he will also unveil smart border projects and chair high-level security reviews.

Tripura has an 856 km-long border with Bangladesh along its northern, western and southern borders.

In mid-June, Shah is expected to travel to West Bengal where he will review security arrangements along the Bangladesh border and discuss issues related to cattle smuggling, human trafficking and other security concerns.