Govt intensifies search for members of Demography Mission

The process to establish the Demography Mission has gathered momentum with the government intensifying the search for members.

Top official sources have told The Tribune that the search for members to be appointed to the High-Level Committee on Demographic Challenges is underway and the mission could be set up soon.

The committee was approved by the Union Cabinet in the meeting held in early September and since then its terms of reference, the eligibility of members to be co-opted and the intended outcomes and timelines have been in the realm of active debate within the government.

In a parallel development today, the ruling BJP's ideological mentor, RSS, urged the Central government to draft a population policy to correct the demographic imbalance.

At the end of a three-day RSS executive body meeting held in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur and attended by chief Mohan Bhagwat, Sangh second-in-command, general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale said the government had mentioned in the past about the need for a population policy in open platforms and in Parliament.

"Woh population policy jitni jaldi hogi utna uska laabh hai (the sooner we draft a population policy, the better the gains will be)," Hosabale said.

The Union Finance Minister in her 2024 interim Budget speech had said the government would address "fast population growth and demographic changes." The development takes forward Bhagwat's recent remarks that everyone should have three children and no more.

"Science says societies with less than three birth rates slowly vanish. So we should maintain a birth rate above 3. Doctors also describe families with three children as healthier because they learn to manage egos...our national population policy recommends 2.1 children, which means 3. Every Indian must consider having three children," Bhagwat said in August this year, adding "there should not be too many more than three."

The RSS' official take is -- "infiltration across the borders and conspiracy driven religious conversions are the main reasons behind population imbalance and demographic imbalance and laws are needed to prevent these."

Government sources meanwhile said the Demography Mission will recommend the way forward on the population imbalance issue.

"Once the members are finalised, the HLC will be notified and concerted work will start on identifying the scale of demographic alterations on account of illegal infiltration and the way forward to address the issue," said a top official source.

The work on the Demography Mission is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's directions.

Marking his 12th Independence Day address on August 15, the 79th Independence Day, this year, PM Modi made a series of ambitious announcements signalling the government's intention towards the Viksit Bharat goal.

In his speech Modi highlighted what he described as the dangers of demographic imbalance due to infiltration and illegal migration in border areas and announced the launch of a High-Powered Demography Mission to address the issue. He described demographic changes as a "national security challenge which needed to be addressed to ensure the unity, integrity and rights of India’s citizens".

Home Minister Amit Shah had earlier briefed the Cabinet on the nuances of the Mission, with the first step being the constitution of the HLC. Only yesterday, the PM declared that he would remove every infiltrator residing in India.