High-Level Committee on Demographic Changes: MHA Notification, Members, Role & Objectives

On 26 May 2026, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a notification constituting a High-Level Committee on Demographic Changes to undertake scientific study of the nature, causes and consequences of such demographic changes occuring across the country and to recommend appropriate policy, administrative and legal measures.

High Level Committee on Demographic Changes will be as follows:

Other details of the High-Level Committee:

1. The committee can request any needed information, records, or documents from any ministry, department, state government, public authority, or individual.

2. The committee can decide its own procedures for inquiry, consultation, analysis, and reporting. With approval from the Ministry of Home Affairs, it may also form sub-committees or working groups.

3. The Ministry of Home Affairs will provide all administrative, secretarial, and logistical support to the committee.

4. The committee will be based in New Delhi.

5. The committee will have to submit its final report within 1 year.

Need for constituting a High-Level Committee:

1. Significant challenges have arisen due to demographic changes, especially from illegal immigration. In some regions, population changes are not due to normal birth or death rates but are instead caused by factors like illegal immigration, unusual migration, and weak administration.

2. Although these changes are most visible in border districts, their effects have spread to cities, industrial areas, tribal regions, and other sensitive zones. This has seriously impacted public services, local governance, resource distribution, and social harmony. Existing institutions are not well-equipped to assess and respond to these changes in a coordinated, evidence-based, and timely manner.

Terms of Reference of the High- Level Committee on Demographic Changes will be as follows:

1. Examine the challenges caused by demographic changes, including illegal immigration.

2. Study the possible causes of these changes, such as differences in birth rates, cross-border movement (including illegal immigration), economic factors, and social or environmental conditions.

3. Identify key reasons behind these changes, including illegal immigration and unusual settlement patterns.

4. Analyze population changes among different religious or social groups, especially where trends differ.

5. Suggest a clear and permanent system for identifying, detaining, and deporting illegal immigrants in a legal, fair, and timely way.

6. Recommend ways to strengthen border control, population monitoring, and identification systems.

7. Propose policies to improve coordination between the Central and State Governments on issues related to illegal immigration and demographic imbalance.

8. Suggest any other measures needed to address challenges related to demographic changes.

[High-Level Committee on Demographic Changes: MHA Notification, Members, Role & Objectives, dt. 26 May 2026]