Parliamentary panel asks Centre to conduct Census at the earliest, deport Rohingyas

Parliamentary committee recommends early completion of Census, data preparation on immigrants, leveraging digital platforms, and border infrastructure enhancement.

A Parliamentary Standing Committee (PSC) on Home Affairs has recommended that the Census may be completed at the earliest.

The PSC observed that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) may prepare data on the influx of immigrants, including Bangladeshis, Rohingyas from Myanmar, and immigrants from other countries. “Rohingyas are entering and settling illegally in various parts of the country,” the committee said.

“MHA should take effective steps to identify the illegally settled Rohingyas and repatriate them to their parent countries,” it recommended.

The panel also suggested that the MHA may explore and leverage additional existing digital platforms and tools, including mobile phone connections, Aadhaar, and other government databases for real-time data collection.

Further, linking the data collected through these digital channels with the Aadhaar database could provide additional layers of verification, ensuring data integrity and reducing the need for manual cross-checking, the committee said.

The population count that was to be done in 2021 has been indefinitely postponed by the government.

The PSC, led by Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Radha Mohan Das Agarwal, tabled the 252nd report on Demand for Grants (2025-2026) for the MHA on Monday in the Rajya Sabha.