Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on 27 May welcomed the Centre's decision to constitute the 'High-Level Committee on Demographic Change', but cautioned the government against driving the exercise without first establishing accurate, comprehensive data on what he called 'unnatural population shifts.' His remarks came at a book launch event in New Delhi, where he spoke to reporters on the sidelines.

What Tharoor Said

'That's a very important development; there are lots of things happening. There are changes of various kinds, and I think it's important that before we have a serious conversation about the political implications, we should understand the numbers we're dealing with,' Tharoor said. 'Otherwise, people can misuse data, especially if it's incomplete, by needlessly creating political controversies.'

The Congress MP added that he supports any initiative that delivers 'facts and figures that are accurate, that are comprehensive, showing all the demographic factors, the trends and so on.' He also pointed to the forthcoming national census as a complementary exercise that, together with the committee's findings, could provide 'a more accurate picture of what the reality is in our country.'

The Committee and Its Mandate

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday formally announced the constitution of the committee, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi had first promised during his Independence Day address at the Red Fort on 15 August 2025. In a post on X, Shah said infiltration and other causes of 'unnatural demographic change pose a very significant challenge to the present and future of any nation.'

The committee will be chaired by Justice Prakash Prabhakar Naolekar (Retd) and will include the Census Commissioner, retired IAS officer Durga Shankar Mishra, retired IPS officer Balaji Srivastava, and economist Dr Shamika Ravi as members. The Joint Secretary (Foreigners-I) of the Ministry of Home Affairs will serve as Member Secretary.

Scope of the Panel's Work

According to Shah, the committee is mandated to conduct a 'comprehensive assessment of demographic changes occurring across India due to illegal immigration and other unnatural causes,' analyse patterns of abnormal population shifts at the level of religious and social communities, and present 'a planned and time-bound solution.' Shah further stated that demographic change is linked not only to national sovereignty but also to national security, law and order, social structure, and the preservation of tribal society.

Context and What Comes Next

The panel's formation comes ahead of the national census, which has been delayed since its original 2021 schedule. Tharoor's conditional support reflects a broader opposition posture — acknowledging the legitimacy of the concern while flagging the risk of politically charged conclusions drawn from incomplete data. The committee's first findings and a time-bound action plan are awaited; no deadline has been publicly disclosed yet.