IITs will conduct special recruitment drives for those candidates whose placement offers got revoked during the COVID-19 outbreak, according to the education minister. The minister's announcement comes after reports emerged that several companies rescinded the offers they made to students from various Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institutes of Managements (IIMs) amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Before this, Union Human Resource Development minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ''Nishank'' had requested to the recruiters not to cancel any job offers made to students in campus placements earlier in the year.
Most of the premier IITs and IIMs had completed 100 per cent placements this season.
"I have also asked all IIT directors to hold special placement drives for the students affected by cancelled job offers. The students to whom the jobs were offered during the placement drive are among the country's brightest minds and can help recruiters in times of crisis," he said.
"I have also appealed to all campus recruiters not to withdraw jobs offered to graduating students of technical education institutions," he added.
Mr Nishank had last week directed directors of 23 IITs to ensure that campus placements are not affected due to the situation.
Earlier, the All IITs' Placement Committee (AIPC) had also reached out to all the companies that visited for campus recruitment, requesting them not to rescind placement offers made for the academic year 2019-20.
IIT Delhi Director V Ramgopal Rao, had also issued a public appeal to all recruiters on last Friday.
Mr Rao said that since all IITs strictly follow the equal opportunity principle (one candidate, one job), withdrawing an offer would mean students "will end up not having any job right now", PTI reported.
"..in IITs, the placement process works very different from similar top institutions abroad.
"...Once a student is offered a placement, as per IIT Delhi policy, the student is not allowed to sit for other placements. Students trust the companies with their offers and do not even apply for other companies.
"...As a result, if a job or an internship offer is withdrawn at this stage, the student, having given up her/his right to apply for other similar jobs, will end up not having any job right now," Mr Rao wrote in a Facebook post.
"We all understand these are difficult times. But please be considerate to keep your promises. A few months of delay may be fine. Please do not complicate the lives of these brightest children in an already complex environment. If at all, they are capable of getting you out of recession faster than you can imagine," he wrote.
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