Politics over people: On India’s High-Level Committee on Demographic Change
UPSC CSE Context Why in News: Centre constituted a High Level Committee on Demographic Change chaired by Justice P. P. Naolekar. Syllabus Connection: Polity, Governance, Social Justice, Population and Associated Issues, Security. Exam Relevance: Relevant for questions on demographic governance, citizenship, national security, and communal profiling. Core Issue Government securitises demographic change, raising concerns of communal profiling and statelessness. Key Development: Committee to assess abnormal population shifts among religious communities and recommend deportation of infiltrators. Stakeholders: Muslim community tribal societies Static Knowledge High Value Background: India's demographic dividend is driven by a young population, but quality of education and health remains challenging. Partition legacy includes voluntary and involuntary migration, complicating demographic governance. Exam Linkage: Useful for questions on population management, citizenship, and national securit
## UPSC CSE Context **Why in News:** Centre constituted a High-Level Committee on Demographic Change chaired by Justice P. P. Naolekar. **Syllabus Connection:** Polity, Governance, Social Justice, Population and Associated Issues, Security. **Exam Relevance:** Relevant for questions on demographic governance, citizenship, national security, and communal profiling. ## Core Issue Government securitises demographic change, raising concerns of communal profiling and statelessness. **Key Development:** Committee to assess abnormal population shifts among religious communities and recommend deportation of infiltrators. **Stakeholders:** - Muslim community - tribal societies ## Static Knowledge **High-Value Background:** - India's demographic dividend is driven by a young population, but quality of education and health remains challenging. - Partition legacy includes voluntary and involuntary migration, complicating demographic governance. **Exam Linkage:** - Useful for questions on population management, citizenship, and national security. **Concepts in Context:** - Demographic dividend: economic growth potential from a working-age population. - Statelessness: lack of nationality, leading to denial of rights. **Institutions and Mechanisms:** - High-Level Committee: advisory body to study demographic changes and recommend solutions. - SIR (Summary Revision of Electoral Rolls): process that can render people undocumented. ## Dynamic Analysis ### Governance - Securitising demographic trends may undermine social cohesion and trust in institutions. - Focus on illegal infiltration alone ignores broader challenges like ageing and migration. - Risk of creating a large stateless population if deportation is not feasible. ### Social Justice - Fear of communal profiling of Muslims is real and could deepen social divisions. - Human costs of deportation and statelessness must be weighed against security concerns. ### International Relations - Unregulated cross-border movement is a global challenge, as seen in Switzerland's referendum. - India's approach may affect bilateral relations with neighbouring countries. ## Prelims Takeaways - Switzerland rejected a proposal to cap population at 10 million in a June 14 referendum. ## Mains Value Addition **Arguments:** - Demographic governance should balance security with human rights and social cohesion. - Securitisation may lead to communal profiling and statelessness, as seen in Assam's NRC experience. **Examples:** - Switzerland's 2024 referendum rejecting population cap shows global sensitivity to demographic policies. **Counterpoints:** - Unregulated infiltration can strain public services and local governance. - Demographic changes have affected resource distribution and social cohesion. ## Way Forward - Adopt a long-term, evidence-based approach that includes education, health, and migration management. - Ensure transparency and avoid communal profiling in demographic assessments. - Develop a legal framework for deportation that respects international human rights norms. - Strengthen border management without creating stateless populations.
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