UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Hackathon 2.0: Ministry of Tribal Affairs Advances Development of National FRA Digital Platform with All SIH Finalist Teams
Q1. Under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, which one of the following is the authority empowered to initiate the process of determining the nature and extent of individual or community forest rights?
- A. The Gram Sabha
- B. The Sub-Divisional Level Committee
- C. The District Level Committee
- D. The Divisional Forest Officer of the territorial forest division
Q2. With reference to the Forest Rights Act, 2006, which one of the following best describes the term 'Other Traditional Forest Dwellers' (OTFD)?
- A. Any member or community that has for at least three generations (a generation being 25 years) prior to 13 December 2005 primarily resided in and depended on forest land for bona fide livelihood needs
- B. Any Scheduled Tribe member residing anywhere within a notified Scheduled Area, irrespective of dependence on forest land
- C. Any member or community that has resided in forest land for two generations prior to the commencement of the Act in 2006
- D. Any person granted a lease or permit by the Forest Department to collect minor forest produce
Q3. In the context of implementation of the Forest Rights Act, 2006, the 'Joint Advisory' issued by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is best described as:
- A. A communication issued to State Governments/UTs to improve coordination between the Forest Departments and the Tribal Welfare Departments for smooth implementation of the Act
- B. A statutory notification transferring nodal responsibility for the Act from the Ministry of Tribal Affairs to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
- C. A judicial direction issued jointly to review the eviction of forest dwellers whose claims were rejected
- D. A financial memorandum sanctioning the central share of funds for distribution of forest rights titles
Q4. Consider the following statements regarding the ministries responsible for the Forest Rights Act, 2006:
1. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs is the nodal ministry for administering the legislative matters of the Act under Section 12.
2. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is the sole authority empowered to issue directions under Section 12 of the Act.
3. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change have jointly issued advisories to States to coordinate the Forest and Tribal Welfare Departments.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- The Ministry of Tribal Affairs is the nodal ministry for administering the legislative matters of the Act under Section 12.
- The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is the sole authority empowered to issue directions under Section 12 of the Act.
- The Ministry of Tribal Affairs and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change have jointly issued advisories to States to coordinate the Forest and Tribal Welfare Departments.
- A. 1 only
- B. 1 and 3 only
- C. 2 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q5. Consider the following statements about the AI-powered FRA Atlas and the associated Decision Support System being developed for the Forest Rights Act:
1. The FRA Atlas is envisaged as an AI-powered platform integrated with a WebGIS-based Decision Support System for monitoring FRA claims.
2. The FRA Atlas is designed exclusively to digitise individual forest rights claims and completely excludes community forest rights.
3. The Decision Support System is intended to integrate Revenue and Forest Department shape-files for geospatial monitoring of claims.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- The FRA Atlas is envisaged as an AI-powered platform integrated with a WebGIS-based Decision Support System for monitoring FRA claims.
- The FRA Atlas is designed exclusively to digitise individual forest rights claims and completely excludes community forest rights.
- The Decision Support System is intended to integrate Revenue and Forest Department shape-files for geospatial monitoring of claims.
- A. 1 only
- B. 1 and 3 only
- C. 2 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2 and 3
Q6. With reference to the objectives of the AI-powered FRA Atlas and WebGIS-based Decision Support System, which of the following are correctly identified as intended functions of the system?
1. AI-based digitisation and analysis for integrated monitoring of FRA claims
2. WebGIS-based decision support for tracking the status of forest rights claims
3. Geospatial integration of Revenue and Forest Department shape-files
4. Conduct of Gram Sabha elections for constituting Forest Rights Committees
Which of the above is/are correctly identified?
- AI-based digitisation and analysis for integrated monitoring of FRA claims
- WebGIS-based decision support for tracking the status of forest rights claims
- Geospatial integration of Revenue and Forest Department shape-files
- Conduct of Gram Sabha elections for constituting Forest Rights Committees
- A. 1, 2 and 3
- B. 2 and 4
- C. 1 and 3 only
- D. 1, 2, 3 and 4
Q7. Smart India Hackathon (SIH) 2025, from which the finalist teams for the National FRA Digital Platform were drawn, is a flagship national initiative anchored primarily by which one of the following?
- A. The Ministry of Education, along with AICTE
- B. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology
- C. The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship
- D. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs
Q8. With reference to Smart India Hackathon 2025, consider the following statements:
1. It is jointly anchored by the Ministry of Education and AICTE.
2. Its problem statements are contributed by Union Ministries/Departments as well as State Governments.
3. It is conducted in both a Software Edition and a Hardware Edition.
4. Participation in it is restricted only to research scholars and faculty of the Indian Institutes of Technology.
Which of the statements given above is/are NOT correct?
- It is jointly anchored by the Ministry of Education and AICTE.
- Its problem statements are contributed by Union Ministries/Departments as well as State Governments.
- It is conducted in both a Software Edition and a Hardware Edition.
- Participation in it is restricted only to research scholars and faculty of the Indian Institutes of Technology.
- A. 4 only
- B. 1 and 3
- C. 2 only
- D. 2 and 4
Q9. Which of the following States is/are correctly identified as having tribal areas administered under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution?
1. Assam
2. Meghalaya
3. Mizoram
4. Nagaland
Which of the above is/are correctly identified?
- Assam
- Meghalaya
- Mizoram
- Nagaland
- A. 1, 2 and 3
- B. 1, 3 and 4
- C. 2 and 4
- D. 1, 2, 3 and 4
Q10. The National FRA Digital Platform being co-developed by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs under Hackathon 2.0 is envisaged primarily as which one of the following?
- A. A single-window, end-to-end national portal integrating claim filing, monitoring and grievance redressal across States
- B. A blockchain-based land registry that replaces the Revenue Department's records of forest land
- C. A State-specific portal limited to FRA-implemented villages of Maharashtra
- D. A satellite-imagery archive maintained solely for demarcating protected areas under wildlife law
Q11. The National Tribal Research Institute (NTRI), New Delhi — the venue of Hackathon 2.0 — is mandated to monitor the projects of how many Tribal Research Institutes (TRIs) as the apex body?
Q12. As on 31 May 2025, of the total claims filed under the Forest Rights Act, 2006, which one of the following categories accounted for the largest number of claims?
- A. Individual forest rights claims
- B. Community forest rights claims
- C. Community forest resource claims
- D. PVTG habitat rights claims