States Face Data Gaps as Demography Panel Seeks Religion-wise Records

New Delhi, September 30, 2026: Several State governments are facing difficulties in responding to a detailed questionnaire from the Union Home Ministry’s High-Level Committee on Demographic Changes (HLCDC), which has sought district-wise and religion-wise data on a range of indicators, including school enrolment, vehicle registrations, property transactions and voter records.

The questionnaire, reported by The Hindu, seeks data spanning 15 years and covering Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Muslims, Parsis and Buddhists. It also asks States to provide information on Aadhaar enrolments, ration cards, religious structures and demographic changes in specific regions.

The difficulty for States is that much of this information is not maintained according to religion in routine government records. Officials cited in the report said that, apart from some information such as religion recorded in birth registration and data concerning undocumented migrants who have been apprehended or deported, the requested information is largely unavailable in the form sought by the panel.

The committee, headed by retired Supreme Court judge Justice Prakash Prabhakar Naolekar, was constituted by the Ministry of Home Affairs on May 26 to study demographic changes attributed to illegal immigration and other abnormal factors and recommend policy, administrative and legal measures.

The panel has sought explanations for changes in school enrolment that appear inconsistent with historical birth rates, along with information on property transactions, land acquisition and demographic clustering in districts, including tribal and Scheduled Areas.

It has also asked States to provide details of religious structures established during the past 15 years and indicate whether Geographic Information System technology has been used to map them.

Another part of the questionnaire deals with migration and identity documentation. States have been asked for information on undocumented migrants, including apprehensions, detention and deportation, as well as cases involving allegedly forged identity documents. The panel has also sought information on unusual increases in Aadhaar, voter ID and ration-card registrations.

The committee is examining demographic changes across religious and social communities as part of its broader mandate. The Union government has said the panel will study factors including fertility differences, cross-border movement and other causes of population shifts.

The questionnaire also seeks information on religious conversion among Scheduled Tribe communities, including available studies, assessments and commission reports, as well as district-level trends and action taken by authorities.

Electoral data forms another component of the exercise. The committee has sought information related to voters excluded from Bihar's Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls on grounds of suspected foreign nationality. According to The Hindu report, the Election Commission has not yet supplied the requested information, although discussions have taken place between the panel and election officials.

The committee has begun consultations with States and Union Territories and is undertaking field visits as part of its inquiry. The Home Ministry had earlier said the panel would gather information from State administrations and visit different regions to assess demographic changes on the ground.

The data gap confronting the States could therefore become an important issue for the committee as it seeks to build a nationwide picture of demographic change from records that were not routinely collected on a religion-wise basis.

Courtesy : The Hindu

Photo Credit : Special Arrangement