Demography panel set to examine growth rate disparities, infiltration

The demography mission announced by the Prime Minister on August 15 will likely include key ministers, to address key issues related to demographics, including illegal immigration and the disparities between the growth rates of population across India, which threaten to cause a federal rupture.

- Saubhadra Chatterji

Senior government officials familiar with the matter said that while the main focus of the mission will be to combat infiltration, it will also address issues such as extensive migration, especially from states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha and West Bengal to western and southern states. It will also look into ways to ensure the southern states are not penalised politically or financially for managing to get their population growth rates to desired levels — even as more populous and poor states such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have not.

On August 15, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced in his Independence Day speech delivered from the ramparts of the Red Fort that his government would set up a high-powered mission to deal with demographic changes triggered by infiltration. He maintained that no country can afford to give away its land to intruders and pointed out how infiltration in border states can compromise national security and development.

THE MISSION WILL ALSO LOOK AT MIGRATION FROM STATES SUCH AS U.P., BIHAR, ODISHA AND BENGAL TO WESTERN AND SOUTHERN STATES

Describing it as a “sochi-samjhi saazish (well-planned conspiracy)” to change the demography of the country, Modi said, “Today, I want to tell you about a challenge. A new crisis is being created. And these intruders are snatching away employment opportunities of our youth.”