Jammu: A government-appointed high-level panel examining demographic changes visited the Jagti township — the largest designated satellite settlement for displaced Kashmiri Pandits Tuesday, to gather views and inputs from different sections of the population, officials said.
The team also inspected a slum housing Rohingya immigrants in Narwal area of Jammu and met several delegations, including representatives of the Gorkha community and refugees from Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK), they said.
Four members of the high-level committee reached Jammu on a three-day visit Monday and held consultations with senior government and police officials including Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo and Director General of Police (DGP) Nalin Prabhat.
In May, the Centre had constituted the high-level panel headed by Justice (Retd) Prabhakar Navlekar to study demographic changes in different parts of the country, arising from illegal immigration and other reasons, and to suggest measures to deal with these changes.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the High-powered Demography Mission August 15 last year. The Union Cabinet gave its approval to the proposal September 11, 2025.
On the second day of their visit, the team comprising Census Commissioner Mritunjay Kumar along with Durga Shankar Mishra (retired IAS officer), Balaji Srivastava (retired IPS officer) and Shamika Ravi reached Jagti township at Nagrota. They were accorded a traditional welcome by a group of migrant pandits, before holding a closed-door meeting with their representatives for nearly an hour.
Relief and Rehabilitation Commissioner (Migrants) Dr Arvind Karwani, who is accompanying the panel, said as per the committee’s terms of reference, they are meeting both officials as well as public delegations to discuss issues concerning demographic changes.
Today, they specifically took out time to visit Jagti, where more than 5,000 (Kashmiri pandit) families reside. They met the residents and interacted with them, listening very carefully to their sentiments and suggestions, Karwani said after the meeting.
He said community representatives also raised the issue of their return and rehabilitation, putting forward several suggestions.
All the speakers presented their views before the committee, which heard them patiently and took note of their concerns. I hope these issues and suggestions will be reflected in the committee’s report, Karwani said.
Social activist Sunil Pandita said the delegation was apprised of a range of issues confronting Kashmiri Pandits since 1990, including inadequate water supply, roads, sanitation, accommodation, employment, implementation of relief schemes and their return.
While there was no immediate response, we hope the delegation will take these issues to the central government and help find a lasting solution, he said.
Vishva Ranjan Pandita, a lawyer by profession, said he has urged the Union government to recognise Kashmiri Pandits as victims and survivors of genocide and enact a genocide law, rather than continuing to describe the community as migrants.
He said the community wants a safe and dignified return to its homeland, with safeguards to ensure that the events of 1990 are never repeated.
The committee later inspected the Rohingya settlement in the Narwal area of Jammu and returned to their hotel, where various delegations visited them, officials said.
According to the government, the committee will scientifically assess demographic changes occurring in various parts of the country due to illegal immigration and other reasons, analyse their causes, and recommend appropriate policy, legislative and administrative measures.
According to government data, over 13,700 foreigners, including Rohingya Muslims and Bangladeshi nationals, are settled in Jammu and Samba districts of Jammu and Kashmir, where their population has increased by over 6,000 between 2008 and 2016.
In March 2021, police found over 270 Rohingyas, including women and children, living illegally in Jammu city during a verification drive and lodged them in a holding centre inside the Kathua Sub-Jail.
