Imphal: The Ministry of Home Affairs has established a High-Level Committee on Demographic Changes that notably excludes professional demographers. This composition has drawn attention from academic and professional circles for its unusual approach to studying population trends.
The panel features a diverse group of officials, including a retired Supreme Court judge, the Census Commissioner, and a retired IAS officer. It also includes a retired IPS officer and a representative from the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council. By leaving out specialists in population studies, migration analysis, and statistical modelling, the government has prompted questions about the future role of expertise in policy formation.
Some economists suggest the move aims to streamline administrative conclusions by avoiding complex data interpretations typically provided by subject matter experts. Critics and academics have responded with irony, questioning if future panels on specialized fields like cardiology or climate science will follow a similar path of excluding qualified scientists.
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