The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are known for their excellence in engineering education and research. Every year, thousands of students aspire to join these prestigious institutions and crack the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Advanced, which is one of the toughest entrance exams in the world. However, not all students who make it to the IITs have the same opportunities and chances of getting placed in their dream companies. In recent news from IITs it is revealed that some recruiters ask for the JEE Advanced rank of the candidates during the IIT placements 2023, which creates a bias and disadvantage for the students belonging to the Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), and Other Backward Class (OBC) categories.
Recruiters participating in placements at the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) are asking candidates to declare their ranks on the common rank list (CRL) of the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Advanced in the pre-placement forms. tudents from historically-marginalised Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes fear this is an indirect way of determining if they benefited from reservation and sifting them out of the IIT placement process.
According to the report, some recruiters, especially from the core engineering and consulting sectors, use the JEE Advanced rank as a screening criterion to shortlist the candidates for the interviews. This practice is discriminatory and unfair to the SC, ST, and OBC students who have lower cut-off marks and ranks than the general category students due to the reservation policy. The report cites some examples of students from IIT Kanpur, IIT Guwahati, and IIT Patna who faced this problem and expressed their frustration and disappointment.
“Complaints have come from IIT Kanpur, IIT Patna and IIT Guwahati so far from students for companies Tata Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), Navi Technologies, Merilytics and Niva Bupa Insurance to fill their CRL rank of JEE Advanced in their pre-placement forms with no option for students from category ranks. These biases are leading to the lack of a level playing field for marginalised students,” said Dheeraj Singh, an IIT Kanpur alumnus who leads the Global IIT SC/ST Alumni Support Group.
The report also mentions that some IITs have taken steps to address this issue and have asked the recruiters to refrain from asking for the JEE Advanced rank or to consider other factors such as academic performance, projects, and skills. For instance, IIT Kanpur has issued a circular to the recruiters stating that they should not ask for the JEE rank or use it as a basis for selection. IIT Guwahati has also advised the recruiters to focus on the candidates’ achievements and abilities rather than their JEE rank. IIT Patna has also made it mandatory for the recruiters to submit a detailed feedback form after each interview, which includes the questions asked and the evaluation criteria used.
However, these measures are not enough to ensure a fair and inclusive placement process for all the students. The report suggests some possible solutions to this problem, such as creating a common placement portal for all IITs, increasing the diversity of recruiters, and sensitizing the recruiters about the reservation policy and its benefits. The report concludes by saying that the IIT placements 2023 should be a fair and inclusive process that gives equal opportunities to all the students regardless of their JEE Advanced rank or category. The report also urges the students to raise their voice against any discrimination or injustice they face during the placements and to seek the support of their peers, faculty, and administration.
IIT placements 2023 begin from December 1.