"This is not religious conversion. This is 'ghar wapsi' (homecoming of Hindus who adopted other religions)," he told PTI here when asked about faith change programmes of certain groups, an issue which has rocked Parliament and disrupted its functioning.
The 'ghar wapsi' programme of Hindutva outfits is not new. It was launched in 1995-96, but this time around too much hue and cry has been raised over the issue, he maintained.
There had been a "spurt" in conversion of Hindus into Christianity since 1964-65 but nobody raised this issue, Vaidya stated.
Odisha had recorded the highest number of such conversions, he claimed.