Lok Sabha Question No. 2117 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-02-12
Subject: Forest Rights Act (FRA), Digital Platform
Ministry: TRIBAL AFFAIRS
Asked by: Shri Godam Nagesh, Shri Lumbaram Choudhary, Smt. Mala Rajya Laxmi Shah, Dr. Kalyan Vaijinathrao Kale, Dr. Vinod Kumar Bind, Shri Pratap Chandra Sarangi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF TRIBAL AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO- 2117

TO BE ANSWERED ON- 12/02/2026

## FOREST RIGHTS ACT (FRA), DIGITAL PLATFORM

2117. SMT. MALA RAJYA LAXMI SHAH: SHRI LUMBARAM CHOUDHARY: DR. VINOD KUMAR BIND: SHRI GODAM NAGESH: SHRI PRATAP CHANDRA SARANGI: DR. KALYAN VAIJINATHRAO KALE:

Will the Minister of TRIBAL AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a)  the  key  components  and  functionalities  of  the  proposed  national  Forest  Rights  Act  (FRA) Digital  Platform,  including  modules  for  filing,  tracking  and  verification  of  Individual  and Community Forest Rights claims;
- (b) the implementation roadmap for rolling out the unified platform over the next two months and the details of the pioneering approach of Ministry of Tribal Affairs, of engaging all Smart India Hackathon-2025 finalists for co-development and testing of the platform;
- (c) the details and key outcomes of the field visits conducted on 2-3 January 2026 to Surgana and Igatpuri blocks in Nashik district for ground validation with Forest Rights Committees (FRCs) and Community Forest Rights Management Committees (CFRMCs); and
- (d) whether similar pilot testing field validation or capacity-building exercises are proposed in Scheduled  Areas  of  Telangana  particularly  in  ITDA  regions  and  if  so,  the  timeline  and implementation details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR TRIBAL AFFAIRS (SHRI DURGA DAS UIKEY)

- (a) to (c): Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) being the nodal for administrations of the 'Scheduled Tribes And Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006', has been actively engaging with innovation-driven initiatives to advance digitization. In this context, under Software category of Smart India Hackathon (SIH) 2025, MoTA placed a problem statement for the development of an AI-powered FRA Atlas and a WebGIS-based Decision Support System (DSS) to support integrated monitoring of Individual Forest Rights (IFR), Community Rights (CR) and Community Forest Resource (CFR) rights. A total of 390 teams participated and the top five teams were shortlisted. Further, MoTA conducted a Post- Hackathon implementation programme

from 2nd to 6th January 2026, where students and mentors from the top five teams combined engaged for development of the National Level FRA Digital Platform.

As a part of Post- Hackathon implementation programme, a two-day field visit was conducted during 2nd and 3rd January 2026, in Nashik district of Maharashtra, to strengthen the evidencebased design of the proposed National FRA Digital Platform. The group of students and mentors from five top teams, along with MoTA officials and State Government officials, first interacted with  the  Nashik-  District  Level  Committee  at  Nashik  District  Collectorate,  where  the  State Government demonstrated the Maharashtra FRA Portal, highlighting its functional architecture, practical utility  in  FRA  implementation and monitoring, and best practices emerging from the State,  including  success  stories  of  recognized  patta  holders  and  the  overall  status  of  FRA implementation  across Maharashtra. Thereafter, the  group  along  with  MoTA  and  State Government  officials  visited  Jamunpada  village  and  Sulpada  village  of  Surgana  block  and Wadivarhe village of Igatpuri block, Nashik, where the students interacted with Individual Forest Right  holders,  Forest  Rights  Committees  (FRCs),  Community  Forest  Rights  Management Committees (CFRMCs), Forest Department officials, Gram Sabha members, ITDP Kalwan and ITDP Nashik Officials, discussed the ground-level challenges, validated field level data, Collected field workflows, geospatial data for platform calibration and ensure that the digital solutions are firmly anchored in claimant-level realities.

Further, a two-day National Workshop was organized on 5th and 6th January 2026, at the National Tribal Research Institute (NTRI). During this workshop, all teams worked to refine, integrate, and finalize  the  functional  design  and  system  architecture  of  the  proposed  national  FRA  Digital Platform,  focused  on  harmonizing  multiple  innovative  solutions  into  a  single,  scalable,  and claimant-centric digital ecosystem. MoTA became the first Ministry to engage student teams after Smart India Hackathon 2025. Further, the development of National Level FRA Digital Platform is at initial stage.

(d): The matter is not under consideration in MoTA.

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