New Delhi, May 27:
In a move which will impact the bordering region, particularly the Northeast, the Centre on Tuesday constituted a high-level committee to study the “unnatural” demographic changes arising from illegal immigration and other abnormal reasons and to suggest measures to deal with these demographic changes.
The ‘High-Level Committee on Demographic Change,’ will be headed by Justice (retired) Prakash Prabhakar Naolekar. The Census Commissioner along with retired IAS officer Durga Shankar Mishra, retired IPS officer Balaji Srivastava and Dr Shamika Ravi will be the other members of the committee. The Joint Secretary (Foreigners-I), Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), will be the Member Secretary.
The committee will scientifically assess the demographic changes occurring in various parts of the country due to illegal immigration and other abnormal reasons. It will analyse the causes, and recommend appropriate policy, legislative, and administrative measures.
Further, the committee will comprehensively deliberate on the challenges arising from demographic changes, including illegal immigration, and study the possible causes of such demographic changes, such as cross-border activities (including illegal immigration), economic opportunities, and other socio-environmental factors. It will identify the underlying factors behind these changes, which include illegal immigration, abnormal settlement patterns, and orchestrated migration.