Jammu, Aug 11: Central high-level “Committee on Demographic Changes” on the second day of its visit to Jammu, on Tuesday, visited Jagti satellite township of displaced Kashmiri Pandits (KPs) at Nagrota and Rohingya settlement at Narwal in Jammu outskirts and held deliberations there.
The panel has a specific mandate to “conduct a comprehensive assessment of the demographic changes occurring across border districts due to illegal immigration and other abnormal reasons.”
During their visit to Jagti camp, the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India Mritunjay Kumar Narayan joined by three other members of the panel held a closed-door meeting with the representatives of displaced KPs and listened to the issues and suggestions.
Following the meeting, the Relief and Rehabilitation Commissioner (migrants) Arvind Karwani, while responding to media queries, said that the panel, as per its mandate, was interacting with the officials as well as public delegations. The panel listened to the concerns and demands of displaced KPs during the meeting, including issues related to their return to Kashmir, he said.
KP representatives, who participated in the deliberations, stated that they apprised the panel about their issues related to basic amenities, relief and their safe and dignified return to Kashmir. Demand to recognise KPs as “survivors of genocide” and not as migrants was also raised before the panel, they maintained.
Later, the panel inspected Rohingya Basti (settlement) in Narwal for assessment purposes. The panel members also met the delegations of PoJK refugees, Gorkha community besides other stakeholders on the second day.
The panel arrived on its maiden 3-day visit to Jammu on Monday to visit different parts of the region with particular focus on border districts and specific areas with undocumented settlement of Rohingyas and Bangladeshis.
On the first day of its visit, met the Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo and the Director General of Police (DGP) besides other crucial stakeholders.
The panel is likely to interact with top brass of the J&K government, UT administration besides other stakeholders.
“The high-level committee, headed by retired Justice Prakash Prabhakar Navlekar, will assess demographic developments in Jammu during its August 10–12 visit. The committee’s first Jammu and Kashmir visit will focus on assessing reported demographic changes, including those attributed to illegal infiltration. The team is scheduled to interact with officials and visit affected and border areas,” official sources maintained.
The Government of India in May this year had constituted this “High-level Committee on Demographic Change” under the chairmanship of Retired Justice Prakash Prabhakar Navlekar, in consonance with the announcement of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the ‘High-powered Demography Mission’ on August 15, 2025.
The Union Cabinet gave its approval to this proposal on September 11, 2025.
In addition to the Census Commissioner, three distinguished experts — Durga Shankar Mishra (retired IAS), Balaji Srivastava (retired IPS) and Dr. Shamika Ravi are the members of the Committee.
The Joint Secretary (Foreigners-I), Ministry of Home Affairs is the member secretary of the Committee.
This Committee will submit its report within one year. If necessary, the Ministry of Home Affairs may extend the tenure of the Committee by up to six months.
Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah, while announcing its constitution, had described “illegal infiltration and other reasons leading to unnatural demographic change as a very big challenge for the present and future of the nation.”
“Demographic change is a serious problem linked not only to our sovereignty but also to national security, law and order, major changes in social structure, and the protection of tribal societies. This Committee will conduct a comprehensive assessment of the demographic changes occurring across India due to illegal immigration and other abnormal reasons. It will analyse the patterns of abnormal population changes at the level of religious and social communities and will present a well-planned and time-bound solution to address the issue,” he had asserted.
Officially speaking, the high-level committee will scientifically assess the demographic changes occurring in various parts of the country due to illegal immigration and other abnormal reasons, analyse their causes, and recommend appropriate policy, legislative, and administrative measures.
