The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) on Thursday blacklisted 31 companies, including startups, from participating in the recruitment process. These companies had either revoked job offers or delayed the ones they made in the last placement season. Ironically, some of these blacklisted companies were founded by IITians.
This is the first time that the IITs have come up with a formal list of blacklisted companies.
The decision was taken on 14 August at IIT-Kanpur where the All-India Placement Committee (AIPC) met to deliberate on the issue.
Explaining the reason behind the step, a senior professor from the AIPC told The Times of India:
Around 135 students from across IITs were affected due to the last-minute revoking of offers by these startups. A majority of the startups that we are blacklisting this year are those that had revoked their offers from institutes in Mumbai, Kharagpur and Roorkee. These institutes have more students registering for campus placements compared with other institutes and, therefore, more students were affected.
A placement cell member from IIT-Bombay told The Times of India, “We are still figuring out if there is a need to release one more list. We will hold discussions with the team and the placement in-charge. We may come out with a list of companies which will be blacklisted for more than a year or even permanently. But we are not entirely sure at this stage.”
The step sends out a much-needed message to the companies that the IITs will not allow any delay or withdrawal of job offers lying down.
The decision has been taken jointly by all 23 IITs.
The blacklisted firms include healthcare startup Portea Medical, delivery-service Grofers, LeGarde Burnett Group, PepperTap, Cashcare Technologies, Mera Hunar, among others. The ban on Zomato, which was placed last year, will continue.
Flipkart Gets A Warning Letter
Interestingly, the institute has not blacklisted Flipkart, the e-commerce retailer that faced much criticism for deferring the joining dates of IIM candidates. The portal, however, is only issuing a warning letter.
Among the blacklisted firms, Johnson Electric and Fundamental Education are not startups. Also, one of the firms in the list was fake “with no proper address”.
A lot of other blacklisted firms are facing financial crises whereas at least three have already shut down.
Also Read:
Flipkart-IIM Crisis: Pointing to Cracks in the Startup Ecosystem?
Flipkart Could Have Timed Their Decision Better: IIM Bangalore
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)