Indian states struggle to answer panel’s religion-based data requests
Indian state governments are reportedly struggling to respond to a 35-question survey by a Home Ministry committee examining demographic change. The panel seeks 15 years of religion-wise information on areas including births, schools, vehicles, property and identity documents, but officials say most departments do not maintain such records by religion.
Indian state governments are struggling to answer many questions from a high-level committee examining demographic changes because departments generally do not maintain the requested information by religion, The Hindu reported. The High-Level Committee on Demographic Changes has sought 15 years of religion-wise data on birth and vehicle registrations, school enrolment and property transactions. It has also requested district-level information on religious structures and unusual increases in Aadhaar, voter-ID and ration-card registrations.
Officials told The Hindu that the committee’s 35 questions were difficult to answer because the Constitution’s secular framework restricted the collection of data under religious categories. They said religion-wise information was generally unavailable outside areas such as birth registration and records of undocumented migrants apprehended or deported. The panel asked states to provide figures for Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Muslims, Parsis and Buddhists.
Its questionnaire covers demographic trends, migration, administrative challenges and institutional mechanisms. Other requests include data on districts with school-enrolment patterns that appear inconsistent with historical birth rates, religious structures established over the past 15 years, and voter registrations involving people without prior-generation birth certificates or family records. The committee has also asked for studies and intelligence assessments concerning changes in the religious composition of Scheduled Tribe populations and alleged conversions among tribal communities.
It wants information on forged documents, detention centres, deportation of undocumented migrants and links between illegal migration and organised crime, trafficking or narcotics offences. Led by retired Supreme Court judge Justice Prakash Prabhakar Naolekar, the committee was constituted by the Ministry of Home Affairs on May 26. It is tasked with studying demographic changes attributed to illegal immigration and other abnormal reasons and recommending measures to address them.
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