The demography panel set up by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has launched a portal to allow government bodies, members of the public, NGOs, and even “international organisations” to submit their input on “frequent demographic changes in the country,” preferably post-2011.
The portal said that while these changes are most visibly concentrated in border districts, their impact has extended to affect urban centres, industrial corridors, tribal regions, and other socially and economically sensitive areas, severely impacting public service delivery, local governance, resource distribution, and social cohesion.
It said that these changes are “not attributable to normal fertility or mortality trends but are instead emerging due to external abnormal factors, including illegal immigration, irregular population mobility, and administrative laxity.”
Analysing demographic change
The MHA said that the inputs will help the panel to analyse and identify the causes of demographic changes and to recommend a well-organised and permanent operational system for the “legal, fair, and time bound identification, detention, and deportation of illegal immigrants residing in the country.”
The portal mandatorily seeks the mobile phone number, address, and e-mail ID of the respondent, and seeks their consent for the processing of their personal data and review and analysis of the information provided.
The portal — https://demography.mha.gov.in — says that the High-Level Committee on Demographic Changes (HLCDC), chaired by retired Supreme Court Judge Prakash Prabhakar Naolekar, was constituted on May 26 to study the “nature, causes and consequences of demographic changes being observed in various parts of the country.”
The respondents have been divided into three categories: Central government Ministries, departments, and organisations; State governments and Union Territory administrations; civil society organisations, non-governmental organisations, academic institutions, industry and business associations, international organisations, and think tanks; and individual citizens, public representatives, students, and others.
Public recommendations sought
There are eight questions under the individual citizen/public representative/student/others category. One of the questions asks the respondent to “describe the major demographic changes” observed or studied over the past 15 years in the geographical areas the respondent is familiar with, such as villages, towns, cities, districts, States/UTs, regions, or “across India.”
The survey seeks views on the principal drivers behind these changes and their impact on sectors such as employment, education, healthcare, housing, infrastructure, public services, the environment, social harmony, and local economies. It also invites respondents to identify challenges arising from demographic trends, highlight successful interventions by governments, local bodies, NGOs, community organisations or academic institutions, and share any research, reports, datasets or other evidence relevant to demographic issues.
In addition, participants are asked to provide their top five recommendations for addressing demographic challenges in India and submit any further comments, suggestions or supporting documents for the committee’s consideration.
States asked for religion-wise data
On September 28, The Hindu reported that the committee had sent State governments a 35-point questionnaire seeking extensive data on demographic changes over the past 15 years.
A significant portion of the information has been sought both district-wise and religion-wise, covering Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, and Parsis.
The panel’s questionnaire sought a religion-wise break up of birth registrations, school enrolment, ration cards, vehicle registrations, property transactions, and voter registration. The committee has also asked States to identify unusual increases in Aadhaar enrolments, voter IDs, and ration cards, and furnish information about forged identity documents.