Mumbai: IIT-Bombay’s placement office used to collect category information of students to provide it to public sector units (PSUs), the institute said in its response to a complaint filed by IIT-Kanpur alumnus, Dheeraj Singh. The institute, however, stopped collecting this information from 2024 onwards, it added. Singh raised an objection against the premier IITs for alleged discriminatory practices during their placement season in 2023. He then filed a complaint with the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC).
Early this year, the Commission wrote to the directors of IIT-Bombay and IIT-Delhi and also the secretary of the department of higher education, ministry of education, seeking an action taken report within 15 days. In its response, IIT-Bombay mentioned that they used to collect the information for the PSUs. “When PSUs recruit students, their personnel verify the birth category documents for positions reserved for certain birth categories. The placement office is not involved in collecting this data,” it added in the response to the NCSC. It also mentioned that the practice is discontinued from 2024.
Singh, who set up a global alumni network to mentor and support SC/ST students, told TOI, “IIT-Bombay admitted in their reply that it was indeed doing category profiling of students sitting for placements till 2023-24. It is also an open secret that several private sector recruiters are still continuing to ask JEE category ranks during interviews, which is worrisome as students fear being weeded out due to their caste/category backgrounds despite their at-par academic records. The govt must ensure that IITs and private sector recruiters put an end to such a discriminatory practice.”
In his complaint in November 2023, Singh alleged that some of the IITs’ placement offices facilitate discriminatory practices by recruiting companies.
