NEW DELHI: Union home minister Amit Shah on Thursday said the Centre’s newly constituted high-level committee on “artificial” demographic changes caused by illegal immigration and other unnatural reasons will also examine whether a separate law is needed to deal with the issue.Speaking after inaugurating and laying the foundation stone for projects worth Rs 340 crore, Shah said the committee headed by retired Supreme Court judge Justice Prakash Prabhakar Naolekar would submit its report within a year.“The high-powered committee will examine the causes behind the artificial demographic shifts that have occurred across the nation. It will deliberate on the remedial measures required, and, should the enactment of any specific legislation be necessary, it will address that requirement as well,” Shah said.He asserted that the Centre was committed to identifying and deporting every “ghuspaithiya” or infiltrator from the country, adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had constituted the panel with that objective.

Shah attacks TMC over infiltration issue

Shah also targeted the All India Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal over alleged infiltration from Bangladesh and claimed the situation had changed after the BJP came to power in the state.“Now, the Bharatiya Janata Party governs 80 per cent of the country’s landmass, and in the recently concluded elections in Bengal, Didi (Mamata Banerjee) suffered a complete rout,” he said.He further claimed that infiltration had reduced and cited media reports to say that some infiltrators had started returning to Bangladesh voluntarily.“Whereas under Mamata’s regime, infiltration used to occur daily,” Shah alleged.The Union minister said detention centres had already been set up in West Bengal but the state government preferred that illegal immigrants leave voluntarily.“If they leave of their own will, the Bengal government will not only refrain from filing any legal cases against them but will also extend assistance to facilitate their departure,” he said.

Committee formed after PM Modi’s 2025 announcement

Shah on Tuesday announced on X that the Centre had constituted the High-Level Committee on Demographic Changes following PM Modi’s Independence Day speech on August 15, 2025.During that address, PM Modi had alleged that a “premeditated conspiracy” was underway to alter India’s demography through illegal infiltration and announced a “high-powered demographic mission”.The committee will conduct a “comprehensive assessment” of demographic changes due to illegal immigration and other “unnatural causes”, analyse abnormal population shifts among religious and social communities, and recommend a “structured and time-bound solution”.The panel includes census commissioner, former IAS officer Durga Shankar Mishra, former IPS officer Balaji Srivastava and economist Dr Shamika Ravi as members, while the joint secretary (foreigners-I) in the ministry of home affairs will serve as member secretary.