Parliament Question: National Cyber Forensic Laboratory

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1346 TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 11TH FEBRUARY, 2026/ MAGHA 22, 1947 (SAKA) NATIONAL CYBER FORENSIC LABORATORY 1346. SHRI BHUBANESWAR KALITA: Will the Minister of HOME AFFAIRS be pleased to state: (a) what are the initiatives taken by Government to strengthen cyber forensic infrastructure; (b) whether there is any mechanism in place for coordination and information sharing between Central and State agencies, particularly in the North-Eastern regions; (c) the measures being undertaken to build forensic and digital investigation capacities; and (d) the steps being taken to utilise cyber forensic expertise in addressing cyber-enabled crimes? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS (SHRI BANDI SANJAY KUMAR) (a) to (d): “Police” and “Public Order” are State subjects under the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India. The responsibilities to maintain law and order, protection of life and property of the citizens including investigation, prosecution of crime and criminals, and related forensic science facilities, are with the State/Union Territory concerned.-2- R.S.US.Q.NO. 1346 FOR 11.02.2026 However, the Government of India has approved Projects of 30 States/UTs to the tune of ₹244.89 crore under the Nirbhaya funded scheme for Strengthening of DNA Analysis and Cyber Forensic Capacities in State Forensic Science Laboratories. Further, the Government of India has established a National Cyber Forensic Laboratory (Evidentiary) (NCFL (E)) at the CFSL, Hyderabad with a total financial outlay of ₹37.34 crore. Further, funds to the tune of Rs. 126.84 crore have been approved under the umbrella scheme “Safety of Women” for establishment of 06 NCFLs(E) in Central Forensic Science Laboratories located at Delhi, Chandigarh, Kolkata (West Bengal), Kamrup (Assam), Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh), and Pune (Maharashtra). National-Digital Investigation Support Centre (N-DISC) (previously known as National Cyber Forensic (Investigation) Laboratory {NCFL(I)}) have been setup in Dwarka, New Delhi and Lachit Borphukan Police Academy in Dergaon, Assam by Union Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India under the aegis of I4C to provide early stage cyber forensic assistance to Investigating Officers (IOs) of State/UT Police. Till 31.12.2025, N-DISC has provided its services to State Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) in around 13,299 cyber forensic requests relating to mobile-3- R.S.US.Q.NO. 1346 FOR 11.02.2026 forensics, memory forensics, CDR Analysis, etc. to help them in investigation of cases pertaining to cybercrimes. The Dergaon lab caters to the needs of all the 8 North-Eastern States. The Ministry of Home Affairs has released financial assistance to the tune of Rs. 132.93 crores under the ‘Cyber Crime Prevention against Women and Children (CCPWC)’ Scheme, to the States/UTs for their capacity building such as setting up of cyber forensic-cum-training laboratories, hiring of junior cyber consultants and training of LEAs’ personnel, public prosecutors and judicial officers. Cyber forensic-cum-training laboratories have been commissioned in 33 States/UTs and more than 24,600 LEA personnel, judicial officers and prosecutors have been provided training on cybercrime awareness, investigation, forensics etc. Further, Training programmes to reskill and upskill cyber professionals working in Cyber Forensic Laboratories have been conducted from time to time during the last five years by the N-DISC, Dwarka, as per requirement. Till, 31.12.2025, 1609 participants from LEAs have completed a 10 days basic course on latest forensic tools and 616 participants from LEAs have completed a 05 days advanced course in forensic techniques. These steps help in addressing cyber-enabled crimes. *****