Tribal Affairs Ministry's Hackathon 2.0 brings all SIH 2025 finalists together for a national FRA digital platform
The Ministry of Tribal Affairs concluded Hackathon 2.0 at NTRI, New Delhi, on 6 January 2026, engaging all five Smart India Hackathon 2025 finalist teams to co-develop a national Forest Rights Act digital platform.
Summary
The Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) held Hackathon 2.0, a two-day national workshop on 5â6 January 2026 at the National Tribal Research Institute (NTRI), New Delhi, to build a unified national digital platform for implementing the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006. All five finalist teams of Smart India Hackathon (SIH) 2025, chosen from over 390 solutions, worked with ministry officials and experts from IIT Delhi and NIC on components such as AI-powered digital archives and an FRA Atlas. MoTA says it is the first ministry to engage all SIH finalists, not just the winner, in post-hackathon development, with the architecture to be finalised over the next two months.
Key facts
- Event
- Hackathon 2.0, 5â6 January 2026, NTRI New Delhi
- Goal
- Unified national FRA Digital Platform (Forest Rights Act, 2006)
- Teams
- All 5 SIH 2025 finalists (from 390+ solutions)
- Experts
- IIT Delhi and NIC
- Components
- AI-powered digital archives; FRA Atlas
- First
- First ministry to engage all SIH finalists post-hackathon
Practice MCQs 2 questions
The Ministry of Tribal Affairs' Hackathon 2.0 (January 2026) aimed to develop a national digital platform for implementing which law?
Show answer
Correct answer: A â Forest Rights Act, 2006
PIB (Tribal Affairs): Hackathon 2.0 advanced a unified national digital platform for effective implementation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006.
Consider the following statements about the Ministry of Tribal Affairs' Hackathon 2.0 held on 5â6 January 2026: 1. It was held at the National Tribal Research Institute, New Delhi. 2. Only the winning team of Smart India Hackathon 2025 was engaged for development. 3. Experts from IIT Delhi and NIC took part. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Show answer
Correct answer: B â 1 and 3 only
PIB (Tribal Affairs): the workshop was at NTRI, New Delhi, with IIT Delhi and NIC experts. MoTA engaged all five SIH 2025 finalists, not only the winner, so statement 2 is wrong.