Demography panel to study population changes post 2011 Census, prepares detailed questionnaire for States

The High-Level Committee on Demographic Changes (HLCDC) led by a retired Supreme Court judge, is all set to send questionnaires to Chief Secretaries of all States seeking details of population changes and increase in settlements since the last Census was conducted in 2011, a government source told The Hindu.

“We will compare the 2011 Census data with the present scenario to understand the scale of change and will also visit those areas. The questions pertain to changes post 2011 Census,” said the source.

The final data for the next Census after 2011, the Population Census 2027, which is being done after a gap of 16 years, are yet to be known.

The first phase of Population Census 2027 — the House Listing and Housing Operations (HLO) — is presently being conducted in phases in several parts of the country, and the final phase, the Population Enumeration, will be completed on March 1, 2027. The HLO can give a fair idea of the settlements and tentative population in enumeration blocks and is set to conclude on September 30 this year.

The panel will also issue an e-mail address to which people can send suggestions or feedback regarding the exercise.

The panel will also ask the Election Commission of India (ECI) to furnish the names of those excluded from voter rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise and also the reasons behind the exclusions. The details of exclusions would help the panel estimate the number of “illegal migrants” in the country, the source said.

The SIR has been completed in 13 States and Union Territories (UT) so far. A document-based process of revising voter lists, the SIR has been criticised for placing the burden of proof on electors, with 6.5 crore names (around 11%) deleted from the electoral rolls across the States, where the combined electorate had stood at 58.88 crore before the SIR began.

On June 25, the panel met Home Minister Amit Shah and informed him about its decision to visit States and interact with various Union Ministries to get first-hand ground-level details and feedback on subjects related to demographic changes, a statement by the Ministry of Home Affairs on July 1 said.

The Minister, while appreciating the strategy formed by the panel, directed Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan to provide all possible assistance to the committee in its day-to-day work and also during its visits. Mr. Shah suggested that the panel provide its recommendation at the earliest.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the “High-powered Demography Mission” in his Independence Day address on August 15, 2025. On May 26, the Ministry constituted the committee to study the demographic changes arising from illegal immigration and other abnormal reasons, and to suggest measures to deal with these demographic changes.

The Ministry’s notification said that the panel will also recommend “a well-organised and permanent operational system for the legal, fair and time-bound identification, detention, and deportation of illegal immigrants already residing in the country”.

The Ministry had said that the existing institutional framework has not been adequately equipped to undertake coordinated, evidence-based, and time-bound evaluation and response to such demographic shifts, adding that extensive challenges have arisen from demographic changes, including due to illegal immigration.

The panel is headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice Prakash Prabhakar Navlekar (retd).

Census Commissioner Mritunjay Kumar Narayan; retired IAS officer Durga Shanker Mishra, who served as Uttar Pradesh’s Chief Secretary; retired IPS officer Balaji Srivastava, who retired as Director-General, Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D); and Shamika Ravi, who is part of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council are the members of the committee. The Joint Secretary (Foreigners-I) in the Ministry is the Member Secretary of the committee.