Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday announced the formation of a high-level committee to study demographic change in India. He cited concerns linked to illegal immigration and other “unnatural causes,” and made the announcement on his official X handle.
The committee has been constituted under retired Supreme Court judge Justice Prakash Prabhakar Naolekar to carry out a “comprehensive assessment of demographic changes occurring across India due to illegal immigration and other unnatural causes,” as per the Home Minister’s announcement.
Who are a part of the committee?
The panel will be chaired by Justice Naolekar and will include the Census Commissioner, retired IAS officer Durga Shankar Mishra, retired IPS officer Balaji Srivastava, and Dr. Shamika Ravi as members. The Joint Secretary (Foreigners-I), Ministry of Home Affairs, will serve as Member Secretary.
In his post on X, Shah said the committee was announced following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day address on August 15, 2025, in which he referred to the need to address demographic concerns.
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He wrote, “To address this very challenge, on August 15, 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.”
घुसपैठ और अन्य कारणों से Unnatural Demographic Change किसी भी राष्ट्र के वर्तमान व भविष्य के लिए एक बहुत बड़ी चुनौती है।
इसी चुनौती से निपटने के लिए 15 अगस्त 2025 को प्रधानमंत्री @narendramodi जी ने ‘High-Level Committee on Demographic Change’ की घोषणा की थी। मुझे बताते हुए हर्ष…
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) May 26, 2026
Focus on demographic assessment
Shah said demographic change is linked to sovereignty, national security, law and order, social structure changes, and the protection of tribal communities.
He stated, “Demographic change is a serious issue linked not only to our sovereignty but also to national security, law and order, profound changes in social structure, and the preservation of tribal society.”
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He further added that the committee will examine population shifts caused by illegal immigration and other “unnatural causes”, identify patterns of change across religious and social groups, and suggest a “planned and time-bound solution”.
Shah also said, “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 population shifts at the levels of religious and social communities, and present a planned and time-bound solution for the same.”
