A high-level MHA panel on demographic changes on Tuesday met multiple delegations and visited the Jagti township of Kashmiri Pandits besides a Rohingya settlement in Narwal area of Jammu.
“The panel visited a slum of Rohingya immigrants in Narwal area and met several delegations, including representatives of the Gurkha community and refugees from Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK),” an official said.
On Monday, the panel had met senior government and police officials, including chief secretary Atal Dulloo and Director General of Police (DGP) Nalin Prabhat.
Director Census Operations, Amit Sharma said, “The high-powered panel visited Jagti satellite township of Kashmiri Pandits where it met the community representatives. The panel also visited a Rohingya settlement in Narwal area.”
During the day, multiple delegations met the panel and put forth their views on demographic changes. They shared their perspectives with the visiting officials, he added.
In May, the Centre had constituted the high-level panel headed by justice (retd) Prabhakar Navlekar to study demographic changes in different parts of the country, arising from illegal immigration and other reasons, and to suggest measures to deal with these changes.
On Wednesday, the panel comprising Census Commissioner Mritunjay Kumar along with Durga Shankar Mishra (retired IAS officer), Balaji Srivastava (retired IPS officer) and Shamika Ravi reached Jagti township at Nagrota. The panel held a meeting for nearly an hour before leaving the township.
{{/usCountry}}On Wednesday, the panel comprising Census Commissioner Mritunjay Kumar along with Durga Shankar Mishra (retired IAS officer), Balaji Srivastava (retired IPS officer) and Shamika Ravi reached Jagti township at Nagrota. The panel held a meeting for nearly an hour before leaving the township.
{{/usCountry}}The committee later inspected the Rohingiya settlement in Narwal area of Jammu and returned to their hotel, where various delegations visited them, officials said.
According to a government database, over 13,700 foreigners, including Rohingya Muslims and Bangladesh nationals, are settled in Jammu and Samba districts of Jammu and Kashmir, where their population has increased by over 6,000 between 2008 and 2016.
In March 2021, police found over 270 Rohingyas, including women and children, living illegally in Jammu city during a verification drive and lodged them in a holding centre inside the Hiranagar Sub-Jail.
The visiting panel will submit its report within a year.