New IITs face a rough placement ride this year

Placements at the new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are headed for a bumpy ride. Behind the excitement of the big companies and bigger offers on campus lurk serious concerns: companies staying away, students in certain streams facing a struggle to get placed and the challenge of placing bigger batches at a time when recruiters are hiring in lower numbers.

Most of these IITs are apprehensive about how placements will pan out given that a number of recruiters – particularly among public sector undertakings (PSUs) – are staying away. IOC, BPCL, HPCL, ONGC, Power Grid Corporation of India are among those that have hired in good numbers in the past, but have not sent out feelers this time round. New IITs are hoping they will reach out in January, but some placement sources admit it may not happen.

In February 2012, an interim order passed by the Madras High Court had restrained PSUs from recruiting in leading colleges including the IITs. The stay was later vacated by the court in September 2012 but the final order is pending. In such a situation, according to an IIT placement official, PSUs can come to campuses under the condition that the decision on whoever is hired will be subject to the High Court’s final directive. A negative decision thus, could leave students hired but jobless.

“We haven’t invited any PSUs and they haven’t contacted us either. As of now, none of them are coming,” says IIT-Ropar’s Training and Placement Officer Prabh Sharan Singh. Last year, PSUs had hired 24 to 25 students of IIT Ropar’s 106 students. It’s a similar situation at IIT Jodhpur and IIT Mandi as well. “IOC, BPCL and HPCL, which came last year, are not coming this year,” says Arti Kashyap, Faculty Advisor at IIT-Mandi. If PSUs in most cases are a no-show, some of the big names which came last year have either not come to certain campuses this time or in certain cases, are not recruiting.

At IIT-Hyderabad, Works Applications, which hired students for Rs. 3.5 million for international placements last year, did not recruit any this time round. At IIT-Ropar, Microsoft which offered four pre-placement offers last year has offered only one, and not made it to the final on-campus placements. Google too could not come to IIT-Ropar because of date issues. “Companies like Microsoft, HPCL and Flipkart, which came last year will not come this year, stating changes in hiring policy,” says Gaurav Harit, Acting Placement Chairperson, IIT-Jodhpur.

In 2013, the institute placed only 73% of its B.Tech. and 60% of its M.Tech. batch. This year, 38 students have been recruited so far from among the 90 sitting for placements.The highest offer so far has been Rs. 1.3 million from Morgan Stanley compared with Microsoft’s Rs 1.6 million last year.

“Conditions are moderate and we expect placements to be similar to 2013 but not surpassing it,” says an IIT-Hyderabad placement team member. Last year, 40 companies came to hire 150 students. This year, while the number of students has risen to 200, the number of companies are expected to remain the same. With bigger batches to place this time, the new IITs are reaching out to a larger number of companies so that placements are not hit. But hurdles remain. At IIT-Jodhpur, authorities are worried because the manufacturing sector has been hit by the downturn.

Even IIT-Mandi — among the few new IITs to achieve 100% placements last year — which got a headstart this year by opening a placement window in October, is concerned. “Companies which hire mechanical and electrical engineering students are likely to be cutting down on numbers because of the downturn,” says Prabh Sharan Singh of IIT-Ropar. 

Amidst all this, there is good news. IIT-Rohtak has seen three top offers of $105,000 from US healthcare software company Epic Systems, compared with two last year. The average salary so far is Rs 1.13 million, up 21% from last year’s Rs. 917,000, and 18 students have bagged Rs. 1.5 million-plus salaries. At IIT-Mandi, Amazon has hired six students for Rs. 2 million, compared with top offers of around Rs. 1.7-Rs. 1.8 million from Microsoft and Amazon last year.

At IIT-Gandhinagar, average salary has grown by 8% to Rs. 781,000 while IIT-Patna has seen the top salary soaring from Rs. 1.6 million-plus last year to over Rs. 1.8 million. At IIT-Varanasi, Microsoft is making an international offer — the first this placement season — likely to be at around Rs. 6 million.

Source: The Economic Times, December 13, 2013

IITs head West for head-hunting

To solve its faculty shortage problem, IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology) are re-inventing their recruitment drives. A few IIT directors and senior professors are planning to personally visit the US — instead of just relying on Skype and videoconferencing — and other foreign countries to hire the best.

There are nearly 43% vacant faculty posts in all IITs. According to a recent reply in the Lok Sabha (Indian Parliament), against the total faculty strength of 6,076 in the 16 IITs across the country, there is a shortage of 2,608.

A team of senior professors from IIT-Kanpur, including the director and dean of faculty, will be visiting US from June 13-23 to interview prospective candidates. “We are organising three events at both coasts: meeting prominent alumni and potential faculty candidate,” Manindra Agrawal, Dean of Faculty IIT-Kanpur told HT.

Pointing out that nearly half of its faculty comes from North America, Agrawal said “ We have a target of recruiting more than 100 faculty over next three years … This is not to say that we are not focusing within India.”

IIT-Kharagpur, IIT-Delhi and IIT-Bombay are also planning similar programmes. IIT-Delhi Director R.K.  Shevgaonkar said, “I have plans to go with some senior faculty members on a recruitment drive to the US later this year.”

But added, “It is misleading to say that there is a shortage of faculty in IITs. Over the years the strength of students has increased, so obviously this will filter a shortage.”

Source: Hindustan Times, April 4, 2013

Three years on, IIT-Indore campus gets MoEF nod

Three years after it came into existence, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) at Indore will finally breathe easy — the Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF) has decided to give forest clearance to the land earmarked for the institute. This will pave the way for the construction of a permanent campus. The elite engineering school’s first batch of students will graduate in less than eight months.

The MoEF has given an “in-principle clearance to IIT Indore campus” but is awaiting a few certificates from the Madhya Pradesh government and the institute for a formal announcement, a ministry official said seeking anonymity. One of the certificates awaited is a so-called mutation certificate — to be issued by the district collector’s office stating that revenue land equal to the forest land diverted for the institute has been demarcated for compensatory afforestation. “It  is expected that the institute will get its final phase II forest clearance in two weeks,” the ministry official said.

IIT-Indore was set up by an act of Parliament along with seven other new IITs during the 11th Five-Year Plan period (2007-12). The institute, which started its operation in 2009, currently functions from two locations — one inside the Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya (University), and the other from a stand-alone building around 20 kms away.

IIT Indore was awarded some 502 acres, including at least 198 acre of forest land. Unless forest land gets clearance from the MoEF, no construction or formal transfer of land can happen. “We have expanded our academic programmes quite a lot and currently are offering both undergraduate and post graduate courses. You would need a permanent campus to expand your courses and student intake,” said Neelesh K. Jain, Dean (Academics) at IIT Indore. “But forest clearance is not something in our hand. We hope it will come very soon.”

Another government official, who, too, did not want to be named, confirmed the decks had been cleared for IIT-Indore to get forest clearance and that it will receive a formal letter in a couple of weeks. The clearance, however, has come at a price. The institute has paid a compensatory amount of Rs. 107 million under a scheme called CAMPA (Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority). This amount will be used to plant trees on land earmarked to compensate for the loss of forest land that’s been diverted for non-forest use.

Pramath Sinha, founding dean of the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, said the general perception is that only private institutions face such problems; but, in reality, many state-run institutes, too, face problems from government departments. “In the name of IITs or IIMs (Indian institutes of Management), you are taking students but not giving the IIT or IIM experience both in terms of soft or hard infrastructure. This is sad,” said Sinha, who is opening a private university in Haryana. “Government went in a hurry to open so many institutes for policy sake and vote bank without putting much thought into it.” Currently, India has 16 IITs.

Source: Mint, August 13, 2012

New IITs yet to get govt approval, students in a spot

Hundreds of students entered the new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), set up in 2008 expecting a bright future for themselves. But their dreams have hit a roadblock, even as the first batch of BTech students is set to graduate in May. The new institutes are yet to be approved as IITs by the Parliament. As a result, the students graduating this year will not get an IIT degree for the time being.

All IITs are governed by the Institutes of Technology Act, 1961. The Act declares them as ‘institutions of national importance’ and specifies their framework for governance, powers and duties. The Gandhinagar campus was among the six IITs set up in 2008. Another two were added the next year.

While the Lok Sabha passed the bill for incorporating the new IITs under the act, it is yet to be cleared by Rajya Sabha. Because of the uncertainty, the IITs are unable to fix a date for their first convocation. Traditionally, IITs host their annual convocations in August. “We are hoping the Parliament moves quickly,” said a director of one of the new IITs. “It takes time to plan a convocation that meets IIT standards.”

The first batch of 30 MTech students of IIT-Hyderabad graduated in 2011. The students are waiting for their degree certificates. Prof. Uday Desai, Director IIT-Hyderabad, said, “We have given the students provisional degree certificates for the time being. With the Lok Savha having cleared the bill, half the job is done. We hope that the Rajya Sabha clears the bill this time.” A total of 160 students will be graduating from the IIT-Hyderabad this year.

Some 600 under-graduate and post-graduate students will be passing out from the new IITs this year. IIT-Gandhinagar has 88 undergraduate students.

Source: The Economic Times (Online Edition), February 29, 2012

IIT-Hyderabad, students’ last choice

Three years after its inception, the Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad (IIT-H) remains one of the least preferred Indian Institutes of Technology in the country. While several state students figure in the top 1000 in IIT-JEE exams every year, the starting and closing ranks of candidates at IIT-H for the past two years range between 1,600 and 2,916.

It is not just the older IITs like Bombay and Madras that are preferred over IIT-H, even new IITs set up in 2008 like Patna and Mandi are opted by more students than IIT-Hyderabad. Most of the top 100 rank holders opt for Bombay, Roorkee and Madras. Among the new IITs, IIT-Patna and IIT-Mandi are catching up, bagging students with top ranks ranging between 985 and 1,500. In 2009, the highest JEE rank on IIT-H campus was 1,159 and in 2010 the top rank dropped to 1,715. While counselling for admissions to IITs this year will go on until the third week of June, sources say that the highest rank this year too would be around 1,500.

Rank holders from the state said that they are not aware of the quality of education offered in the institute that does not even have a permanent campus. “When you think of IITs in the south it is IIT-Madras you would want to join. IIT-H has not established itself as a premier institute,” said Shaimak Reddy, the second rank holder in IIT-JEE. IIT officials stated that just about five to 10 per cent of the students from the state opt for IIT-Hyderabad.

Infact, students who have taken admission in IIT-H admit it was one of their last choices. “My first choice was IIT-Bombay and IIT-H was my second last choice, the last being IIT-Gandhinagar,” said a student of IIT-H, whose not-so-good JEE rank got him a seat in IIT-H. The students complained that the institute has not tried to build its image in the past two years. “IIT-H, academically is doing well. It had started even student exchange programmes in collaboration with foreign countries. But the institute does little to promote its image unlike some of the IITs from the north,” said a third year student, who said that he was worried that the low brand value of the institute might affect placements.

The administration also does not seem in any hurry to bring about changes, sources from the higher education department said. While the state government had allotted land in Kandi village in Medak district for the IIT, the institution has not started construction of buildings yet. IIT-H has recruited about 70 per cent of its staff, but the remaining 30 per cent slots are filled by faculty from IIT-Madras, the mentor institution. Ironically, the state led by former chief minister late Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy had lobbied much with the ministry of human resource development (MHRD) to get an IIT of its own.

IIT officials, however, seemed optimistic about the institute’s future. “Every institute has teething troubles. We are doing better than many IITs set up and we hope to do better,” a Chennai-based faculty member of the university said. The director, of the institute, U.B. Desai was, however, not available for comment.

Source: The Times of India, June 16, 2011

Google, Yahoo! to fund and run 20 new IITs?

Foreign multinationals working in India may soon be able to join hands with the government to run the latest breed of the country’s top information technology education brand — 20 new Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs). Firms like Yahoo! and Google will be eligible to partner the Centre in running the new IIITs in a public-private partnership (PPP) under norms fixed by a Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) panel.

HRD minister Kapil Sibal had set up the panel under former Infosys human resources head T.V. Mohandas Pai to recommend for selection of private partners for the project, which was announced in 2008. The plan to build and run the new IIITs in PPP mode is India’s most ambitious effort at a tie-up between the Centre and industry to fund and manage higher educational institutions together.

The panel has recommended that only a consortium of between three and five firms be allowed to partner the Centre for each IIIT and individual firms be barred from partnering solo on an IIIT. Both IT and non-IT companies can partner under the Pai panel’s blueprint.

Each industry partner will need to invest at least Rs. 2 crore (Rs. 20 million), and the industry consortium must contribute 15% of the funding required for the IIIT, except in northeast states where they need to provide just 7.5% of the funds. The states government will provide 35% of the funds while the Centre will provide the largest chunk — 50% in most states and 57.5% in northeastern states.

Only members of industry bodies like Assocham, FICCI or CII are eligible and public-listed firms, which have been in operation for at least five years will be preferred. The same company can be a part of consortiums running different IIITs. The private partners — who are expected to benefit from a steady stream of students entering their industry — will have 25% seats in the Board of Governors, under the blueprint.

Source: Hindustan Times, May 9, 2011

IIT, Mandi gets Ministry nod for forest land

The delay in setting up a permanent campus for Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) at Mandi (in the hilly north Indian state of Himachal Pradesh) due to land unavailability will be a thing of the past. The Environment Ministry on Friday cleared the diversion of 308 acres of forest land for the IIT, which will specialise in “environmentally-sound infrastructure development for the Himalayan region”.

The Himachal Pradesh Government will now have to submit a compliance report before the final forest clearance is given. As a part of the compliance, the claims under the forest rights act will need to be settled. The clearance was given after the state government re-worked its proposal to reduce the forest area that was required. This is in line with a recent Environment Ministry order to ensure that only absolutely essential amount of forest land is diverted for non-forest purposes. The earlier proposal for the diversion of 338 acres of forest land had been rejected by the ministry on February 3.

The IIT-Mandi campus will host 8,000 students, 800 faculty members and 1,400 non-teaching staff. The campus will be spread over a total area of 501 acres, of which 308 acres is forest area. Dense forest accounts for 7.5 acres of the total diverted forest land. Forest density in the balance of 300.5 acres is less than 0.1. The ministry has stressed that the dense forest area be not utilised for construction, instead be used for landscaping and beautification.

The Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD), which will set up the IIT, will also be required to undertake compensatory forestation in 618 acres, which is double the land allocated of degraded forest land. This is over and above the money that the government will have to deposit for the diversion of forest land. As a part of the campus plan, the Environment Ministry has asked for the inclusion of a forest office for raising nursery and undertaking horticultural plantation in the campus. Other conditions of the clearance include soil conservation, a minimal tree felling, and protection and conservation of wildlife in the high altitude areas. It has suggested that IIT Mandi explore the possibility of adopting these villages for permanent livelihood alternatives as well as taking care of their fuelwood, fodder, and other needs.

The slow pace of setting up permanent campuses for the eight new IITs at Ropar, Bhubaneswar, Gandhinagar, Hyderabad, Patna, Jodhpur, Mandi and Indore has been a cause of concern for the MHRD. The IIT Gandhinagar campus is stuck as of the 400 acres identified by the Gujarat Government, 200 acres belong to the Union Agriculture Ministry, which is reluctant to hand over this land. Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal has asked state officials to sort out the issue with the Agriculture Ministry.

Source: The Economic Times, May 9, 2011

>Sibal lays stone for IIT-Patna campus; worries about low GER

>The government was committed to the development of all new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal said in Patna Tuesday while laying the foundation stone of the IIT-Patna. The premier technology institute is coming up on 500 acres of land near Bihta, about 30 kms from Patna, the state’s capital. Sibal, who arrived here Monday night, said construction work would be completed within three years.

“The central government was committed to the development of all new IITs, including IIT-Patna,” Sibal said after he laid the foundation stone. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who was also present on the occasion, said the state government had last year handed over 463 acres of acquired land. He formally handed over the papers for the 500 acres of land to IIT-Patna Director Anil K. Bhowmick. IIT-Patna has been running at a temporary polytechnic campus here since August 2008.

Mr. Sibal said the Centre would soon work out with the State Governments, the modalities of implementation of the Right to Education Act in order to provide compulsory education to all children in the age group of 6 to 14 years.

The Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has chalked out a plan to provide an impetus to higher education and up the country’s gross enrolment ratio from a measly 14% to at least 20% by 2020. “It’s a major challenge. Developed nations report 50% to 70% gross enrolment ratio,” Mr. Sibal said.

Speaking as the chief guest after laying the foundation stone of the IIT-Patna’s new campus, Sibal said the country’s real wealth is intellectual property which can be created only if more IITs, IIMs (Indian Institutes of Management) and universities are set up. The country today has 700 universities and 26,000 colleges, which are not enough. “We will require 40,000 to 50,000 colleges and 1000 universities and technical institutions by 2020,” he said.

Mr. Sibal said only 15% of the IIT products opt for foreign jobs while the rest of them are contributing to the development of the country. He hoped that IIT-Patna would also prove to be the country’s educational mainstay once it starts functioning from its new campus after two years.

Sibal regretted that only 14% of the country’s school passouts study in universities while 18% to 24% of children remain unschooled. Though the scenario is improving, it’s still poor compared to European countries where 50 to 70% students get university education.

The Union HRD ministry has decided to make all the colleges and universities of the country online under the “National Knowledge Network” scheme. It would be a boon for teachers and students as it would add value to their respective pursuits, Sibal said. Lauding the development work being carried out in Bihar under the leadership of Chief Minister (CM) Nitish Kumar, Sibal said the Centre is ready to help the state grow further in the field of higher education.

In his presidential address, Kumar pitched afresh the state’s plea to set up the Central University of Bihar in Motihari. It would be a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi who had started his ‘satyagrah’ from the West Champaran district headquarters in 1917, he said. “People are ready to make land available in Motihari, only 135 minutes away from Patna. Situated on East-West corridor, the place is also on the railway map. Yet, the Centre is insisting on opening the university somewhere near Patna,” the CM said and asked how inclusive growth will be achieved if all the educational institutions open in Patna.

Kumar said the state government is spending Rs. 8,000 crore (Rs. 80 billion) on education. “Bihar should be given special central assistance to implement the Centre’s Right to Education Act which involves a cost of Rs. 12,000 crore (Rs. 120 billion),” he said and added the state would not look up to the Centre for such expenses if it is accorded the special state status. Mr. Sibal, however, said that the present UPA government has given record funds for education sector to the Bihar government.

Sources: The Times of India & Indo-Asian News Service, April 20, 2011

>IIM-Shillong placement gives hope to new IIMs

>The Indian Institute of Mangement (IIM), Shillong, has started campus placement for graduates through video conference after facing difficulty in attracting a large number of companies to give choices in placement to students last year. The business school’s success is inspiring other new IIMs in small cities, which find it difficult to attract employers as they are inconveniently located or don’t have an established brand name, to turn to e-recruitment.

“We know there is a location disadvantage and we are a young IIM. But that should not be a bottleneck for our students’ placement,” said H.S. Chhabra, Professor In-charge of placement at IIM-Shillong. “This year we have placed at least one-third of our students through e-recruitment.” Chhabra said video conferencing allows company officials who don’t want to visit the campus to chat with prospective employees, give presentations and make job offers. “Out of 66 of our students, 22 have got through this process this year.” He did not name the companies, saying details of the placement season would be furnished only after it gets over.

Bharat Gulia, Senior Manager, Education, at consulting firm Ernst & Young, said necessity leads to such innovations in placement. Company executives don’t like going to far-off places for recruitment when there are connectivity problems, he said. “In case of IIM-Shillong, the nearest airport is Guwahati (in Assam). So recruitment through videoconference is a good way out just not for Shillong but all new IIMs,” he said. Companies sometimes want to hire just a few students, and it doesn’t make sense to go all the way in such a case, Gulia said.

This is the second year of campus placement for IIM-Shillong, which was launched in 2008. Last year, though they managed to place all their students, it was difficult to attract large number of corporate houses. Some other IIMs, which started classes last year and will go for placement in a year’s time, said they may follow IIM-Shillong’s lead. “This gives optimism. It has given a lot of encouragement to all of us,” IIM-Raipur’s Director B.S. Sahay said. “In spite of location, transportation and young brand name, we are optimistic to give good placement to our talented students.”

Besides Raipur, new IIMs were launched in Rohtak, Ranchi and Trichy last year; two more IIMs are set to open shop at Kashipur in Uttarakhand and Udaipur in Rajasthan by the coming academic session. While these campuses are being opened to ensure that students in smaller cities and town also have access to good business schools, their location does hamper campus placement as companies find it much easier to recruit from IIMs and other established business schools in metros like New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.

Chhabra said IIM-Shillong’s tech savvy has helped it establish its name faster than its peers. “In four years, we have established ourselves well. The faculty- teacher ratio is good, we have IT (information technology)-enabled classrooms and Vsat (very small aperture terminal, a two- way satellite ground station) facility.”

Source: Mint, March 15, 2011

>New IITs hit by poor infrastructure: HRD Minister

>The eight new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) that were permitted to set up in 2008 do not have the necessary infrastructure and are not up to the mark making it difficult for the country’s prestigious institutions to retain faculty, said Kapil Sibal, Minister for HRD, Science and Technology and Telecom.

The Minister blamed the state governments for not allotting the required land for setting up permanent campuses for these institutions. “These new IITs are functioning in temporary campuses and unable to attract new faculties. Due to the same reason we are finding it difficult to retain faculties. We need commitment from state governments for at least 500 acres of land without any liabilities attached to it,” Sibal said on the sidelines of Geospatial World Forum which began in Hyderabad today. The ministry started these new IITs three years ago. Each institution should have at least 90 teachers from all disciplines. According to reports most of the institutions do not have the required number of teaching staff.

According to the Minister, these new IITs are yet to get permanent campuses. In some states like Andhra Pradesh, where land has been allotted, building and other infrastructure is not in place yet. Sibal said the ministry is holding talks with respective State Governments on the issue of land allocation. “It is not only the IITs which are suffering. Even the new Central universities announced by the Centre are finding it difficult to get land in states,” Sibal told reporters.

In 2008, the Union Ministry of HRD had announced setting up eight new IITs and seven Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) along with 30 Central and ‘world class universities’ in the country. The new IITs have come up in Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Gujarat, Punjab, Bihar, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.

Source: The Economic Times (Online Edition), January 18, 2011