CONGRESS QUESTIONS CENTRE’S DEMOGRAPHIC DATA EXERCISE AS PANEL SEEKS RELIGION-WISE RECORDS

September 29, 2026

The Congress has criticised a Union Home Ministry-led panel examining demographic changes after reports that it has sought 15 years of religion-wise and district-wise data from state governments. The information requested reportedly covers areas including birth registrations, school enrolment, vehicle registrations, property transactions and voter registrations.

The High-Level Committee on Demographic Changes, headed by retired Supreme Court judge Justice Prakash Prabhakar Naolekar, has sent a 35-question questionnaire to states as part of its examination of demographic trends, illegal immigration and related issues. The panel was constituted by the Ministry of Home Affairs in May.

According to the reported questionnaire, states have also been asked to provide information on religious structures, changes in the religious composition of districts, unusual increases in Aadhaar, voter-ID and ration-card registrations, and reported religious conversions among Scheduled Tribe communities. The committee has sought information relating to several religious communities separately.

State officials have reportedly indicated difficulties in supplying much of the requested information because government departments do not ordinarily maintain several categories of administrative records on a religion-wise basis. Some data, including birth-registration information and records relating to undocumented migrants apprehended or deported, is more readily available.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh criticised the committee's exercise, describing it as having a “patently diabolical agenda” and alleging that its questions reflected preconceived biases. His comments were made in response to reports about the panel's questionnaire; the committee's final findings have not yet been released.

The controversy has brought renewed attention to the scope of the panel's mandate, the availability of religion-disaggregated government data and the manner in which demographic changes should be examined. The committee is continuing its consultations with state governments as it works towards its recommendations.