New Delhi : The Union home ministry's high-level committee is actively seeking comprehensive data from states and UTs to understand and address significant religious demographic changes across India over the last 15 years, aiming to inform future policy and administrative measures.
The high-level committee on demographic changes (HLCDC) is collecting data from states and UTs on religious demographic shifts over the past 15 years.
States are asked to provide religion-wise and district-wise data on birth registrations, religious structures, vehicle registrations, and property transfers.
The committee also seeks details on educational institutions in tribal areas and mechanisms to detect illegal migrants.
States face challenges in collating religion-segregated data as it's not routinely collected, with data collection currently in a preliminary stage.
Headed by Justice Prakash Prabhakar Navlekar (Retired), the HLCDC aims to assess causes of demographic changes and recommend policy measures.
The High-Level Committee on Demographic Changes (HLCDC) under the Union home ministry has sought from the states and Union territories the details regarding "visible changes" in religious demography in districts, industrial clusters and border districts for last 15 years, officials said.
In a letter to states and UTs, the Committee has sought "time series data" indicating changes over the years besides other administrative data sets, along with the assessment of state governments of "major trends" in demographics, besides data on religious composition of tribal populations since 2011, they said.
The letter asks the states and UTs to ensure data is collected from state districts to "the extent available in official records".
The states are finding it difficult to collate such huge data segregated on religious lines as data is not collected on these parameters, sources said.
When asked, highly placed sources said data collection is in a "preliminary stage" and states will not be forced to provide data which does not exist.
Some other modalities may be developed during the process for studying the patterns of this kind if data is not available, they said.
The states and UTs have been directed to provide "religion-wise and district-wise" data on birth registration for the last 15 years besides any delayed registrations after the 21-day statutory period, cases of "suspected fraud" and institutional and non-institutional births, the sources said.
The governments have also been asked to furnish surveys conducted by them on religious structures like "temples, mosques, churches, etc" besides any sudden changes in the enrolment of Aadhaar, voter cards or ration cards, they said.
Details of religion-wise transport department data on vehicle registration, "sudden increase in commercial vehicle licences" in border districts, property transfer patterns in tribal areas, illegal transfers and encroachment of tribal land have also been sought.
Besides the states have also been asked to furnish details of "educational institutions like government, aided, private religious" established in the tribal areas during the last 15 years.
The administration's assessment of "impact on local demographic and social patterns" has also been sought.
One of the questions posed by the ministry seeks from the states and UTs "details of specific technical, intelligence-driven or community-led mechanisms used by local administration to detect and identify illegal migrants living inside established settlements", they said.
In a meeting, the High Level Committee had informed the Union home minister about its decisions to visit various states and UTs to get first-hand ground-level details from the state governments and UT administrations and interact with various ministries of the central government to receive feedback on subjects related to demographic changes, a government statement had said.
"The High Level Committee also informed that a detailed questionnaire has been prepared to receive relevant information from states/UTs in advance to make visits to states/UTs more meaningful and interactive," it had said.
The Committee headed by Justice Prakash Prabhakar Navlekar (Retired) 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 and legislative and administrative measures, it had said.
