New Delhi, May 27 -- The Centre has formed a "high-level committee on demographic change" led by a retired Supreme Court judge and comprising senior bureaucrats for a comprehensive assessment of the demographic changes occurring across India due to illegal immigration and other unnatural causes, Union home minister said on Tuesday. The decision to form such a committee was first announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Independence Day speech from the ramparts of Red Fort on August 15 last year. "Infiltration and other reasons are causing unnatural demographic change, which poses a significant challenge to the present and future of any nation. To address this very challenge, on August 15, 2025, Prime Minister @narendramodi ji had announced the 'high-level committee on demographic change'. I am delighted to inform you that the government has now constituted this committee," Shah said in a post on his X account on Tuesday. This committee, Shah added, will be chaired by Justice Prabhakar Naolekar (retired) and will also include the Census Commissioner (currently Mrityunjay Kumar Narayan is the Census Commissioner), along with retired IAS - Durga Shankar Mishra, retired IPS - Balaji Srivastava and economist - Dr Shamika Ravi as members. The joint secretary (foreigners-l unit) of the ministry of home affairs (MHA) will serve as the member secretary of this committee. Emphasising that demographic change is a serious issue linked not only to the country's sovereignty but also to national security, law and order, profound changes in social structure and the preservation of tribal society, Shah said "this committee will 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 levels of religious and social communities, and present a planned and time-bound solution for the same". People familiar with the development said that the committee is expected to give its report within a year to the government. In his August 15, 2025 speech, Modi had called infiltration "a well thought-out conspiracy" to change the country's demography as he announced creation of this high-powered "demographic mission" to tackle what he described as a massive crisis. "The country's demography is being changed as a part of a well-thought-out conspiracy. A new crisis is being created. And these intruders are snatching away employment opportunities of our youth," Modi had said, accusing the illegal immigrants of criminal activities. The PM had said that demographic change, especially in the border states, creates a crisis for national security, unity, integrity, development, and triggers social tensions. "No country can give away its land to illegal immigrants. No country in the world can afford to do this. How can India allow this to happen?" The government brought in a new immigration and foreigners act last year, which came into effect from September 1, 2025. The law governs all foreign nationals, including those who entered into the country without valid travel documents or overstay beyond the validity of their visa period....