The Centre has formed a “high-level committee” headed by a retired Supreme Court judge to examine demographic changes arising from illegal immigration and recommend measures to deal with these challenges, Union home minister Amit Shah said on Tuesday.
The committee has been given a year to submit its report, an official statement said. MHA may extend the committee’s tenure by up to six months.
“Illegal infiltration and other reasons leading to Unnatural Demographic Change is a very big challenge for the present and future of any nation. To deal with this challenge, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the ‘high-level committee on demographic change’ on August 15 last year. I am delighted to inform that the government has now constituted this committee,” Shah said in a post on his X account on Tuesday.
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Shah said the committee will be chaired by justice Prabhakar Naolekar (retired). Apart from the census commissioner, an official statement said former Uttar Pradesh chief secretary Durga Shankar Mishra, former Delhi police commissioner Balaji Srivastava and economist Shamika Ravi would be expert members of the committee.
{{/usCountry}}Shah said the committee will be chaired by justice Prabhakar Naolekar (retired). Apart from the census commissioner, an official statement said former Uttar Pradesh chief secretary Durga Shankar Mishra, former Delhi police commissioner Balaji Srivastava and economist Shamika Ravi would be expert members of the committee.
{{/usCountry}}The joint secretary (foreigners-l unit) of the ministry of home affairs (MHA) will serve as the committee’s member secretary.
An official statement by the home ministry said the proposal to set up the committee was approved by the Union cabinet on September 11, 2025.
“This committee will conduct a comprehensive assessment of demographic changes occurring across India due to illegal immigration and other unnatural causes, analyse patterns of abnormal reasons. It will analyse the patterns of population changes at the levels of religious and social communities, and will present a well-planned and time-bound solution to address the issue,” said Shah.
MHA said the panel would scientifically assess demographic changes resulting from illegal immigration and other abnormal factors, analyse their causes, and recommend appropriate policy, legislative, and administrative measures.
According to the eight-point terms of reference of the committee, the ministry said it would comprehensively deliberate upon the challenges arising from demographic changes, including illegal immigration; study the possible causes of such demographic changes, such as cross-border activities (including illegal immigration), economic opportunities, and other socio-environmental factors; to identify the underlying factors behind these changes, which include illegal immigration, abnormal settlement patterns, and orchestrated migration; analyse structural population changes at the level of religious or social communities, particularly where they deviate from broader trends; recommend a streamlined and permanent operational mechanism for the legal, fair, and time-bound identification, detention, and deportation of illegal immigrants already residing in the country and recommend an appropriate institutional mechanism to strengthen border management, population stabilisation, and identification systems for the continuous monitoring of such trends.
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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; besides recommending any other measures it deems appropriate to address the challenges arising from demographic changes, including illegal immigration.”
In his August 15, 2025, speech, Modi called infiltration “a well thought-out conspiracy” to change the country’s demography and announced the creation of this high-powered “demographic mission” to tackle what he described as a massive crisis.
“The country’s demography is being changed as a part of a well-thought-out conspiracy. A new crisis is being created. And these intruders are snatching away employment opportunities of our youth,” Modi said in his speech, accusing the illegal immigrants of criminal activities.
The government brought in a new Immigration and Foreigners Act last year, which came into effect from September 1, 2025. The law applies to all foreign nationals, including those who entered the country without valid travel documents or overstayed their visa period.