A demographic panel may study SIR exclusions; requests details from the government

Voters will check their names on the list after the Election Commission released the electoral rolls of West Bengal after the SIR in Kolkata. File | Photo credit: PTI

“A demographic panel headed by a former Supreme Court judge is likely to study the exclusion of names from the electoral roll after the Special Intensive Review (SIR) exercise, which has been conducted in 13 states and union territories so far,” a senior government official told The Hindu.

On Tuesday (June 2, 2026), the High Level Committee on Demographic Change, notified by the Union Home Ministry on May 26, met for the first time. “The committee has sought documents from several ministries,” the official said.

Its task is to study demographic changes resulting from illegal immigration and other abnormal reasons and to recommend an appropriate institutional mechanism for “population stabilization”.

The SIR deleted about 6.5 lakh crore names from the electoral rolls, about 11%, which earlier stood at 58.88 crore in 13 states and UTs. SIR is a document-based process that shifts the burden of proof to the electorate. Deleted names include the dead and those who have migrated.

About 27 million of the 91 million people struck off the electoral rolls in West Bengal have challenged the removal of their names before judicial commissions and these appeals are the subject of legal proceedings.

Field census contradicts government data, census commissioners asked to review and review data

On 27 May, the Supreme Court, while upholding the SIR exercise in Bihar, said that the Election Commission of India has limited powers to verify citizenship by determining inclusion or exclusion from the electoral roll. The court directed the election body to forward the names of voters who were part of the 2003 electoral roll but were purged in the Bihar SIR on grounds of non-citizenship to the center within the next four weeks for consideration by the competent authority under the Citizenship Act.

The official said the exclusion of the names from the SIR lists and the circumstances surrounding them will be studied by the jury. “We need to understand why they were deleted, how their names were inserted in the first place. The committee has written to the concerned government departments to seek details,” the official said.

The ministry’s announcement said the panel would also recommend “a well-organized and permanent operational system for the legal, fair and time-bound identification, detention and deportation of illegal immigrants already in the country.”

The ministry said the existing institutional framework is not well equipped to conduct a coordinated, evidence-based and time-bound assessment and response to such demographic changes, adding that demographic changes, including illegal immigration, have created widespread problems.

Recently released National Family Health Survey-6 data for 2023-24 shows India’s total fertility rate, the average number of women per child, has stabilized at 2.0, below the replacement level of 2.1. The census, which provides a clear picture of migration and demographic change, was last conducted in 2011 and the next population census will be in 2027.

The panel is headed by former Supreme Court judge Prakash Prabhakar Navlekar. The members of the committee are Census Commissioner Mritunjay Kumar Narayan, retired IAS officer Durga Shanker Mishra, who served as chief secretary of Uttar Pradesh, former IPS officer Balaji Srivastava, former director general of the Police Research and Development Authority, and Shamika Ravi, who is part of the PM’s Economic Advisory Council. The Member Secretary of the Committee is the Joint Secretary (Foreigners-I), Ministry of Home Affairs.

Published – 02 Jun 2026 21:50 IST