This year, Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) have decided to keep mum on their placement data. The annual on-campus process started on December 1. However, only IIT Kanpur, Roorkee, BHU, and Kharagpur have shared some information, while others like IIT-Delhi, Madras, Guwahati, and Mandi have decided to either release one update around December 15 or a final update, after session 1 ends in December. The reason for not revealing the information is the betterment of students, IIT professors revealed. "All institutes, during the recent All IITs' Placement Committee (AIPC) meeting, discussed not releasing a daily update of the on-campus placements. AIPC has suggested IITs instead release a weekly or fortnightly update. This has been proposed keeping in mind that daily updates can have a negative impact on the mental health of those students who have not been placed yet. We want to ensure that these media reports do not add to the pressure on IITians," Professor Kaushik Pal, AIPC convenor, told indianexpress.com. The AIPC members includes heads of career development or training and placement cells of all 23 IITs as members, who meet at regular intervals to share their recruitment experiences and problems. Until 2023-24, most IITs shared a daily update about the campus placement that included companies' names, highest and median packages, the total number of students who have been able to bag an offer, number of international offers. IIT placements are held in two phases – the first phase in December and the second phase between January and June. The newer IITs such as IIT Hyderabad, Dharwad and others have decided to release the final placement report around August and September, when placement concludes for the 2024-25 session. This decision of not disclosing highest packages etc has garnered support from several IIT professors. Prof Saumya Singh, head of Career Development Centre, IIT(ISM) Dhanbad, stressed that the daily media reports of IIT placements can "affect the students who have not been placed, especially since they get to hear the figures of other IITs too." IITians who are currently appearing for the placements have had mixed reviews on this decision. Some students believe that reading media reports does not play a huge part in increasing stress levels among IITians. "We have several other things to worry about. If a student has not bagged an offer in the first two or three days, I doubt they will have the time to read media reports. I would have concentrated more on preparing for my other tests/ interviews," said Rithwik Reddy, a civil engineering student from IIT Madras who has bagged an offer in one of his preferred companies. However, AIPC with all IIT representatives has formally decided that no IIT will disclose details about students' CTC. The decision was taken in January 2024 in a meeting of AIPC, where discussions included the IIT Bombay placement report from December 2023 which claimed over 85 offers surpassing an annual package of Rs 1 crore. The claim was later corrected citing a “technical error”, revising the number of Rs 1 crore-plus offers in the first phase of placement to 22. This decision, too, has garnered support from IIT professors and students as the cut-throat competition was making IITs worried about the ongoing placement season, especially since many big companies were a no-show at last year's placement season. Some students have appreciated the decision as they believe it reduces the anxiety caused among students' parents. "I am a final year IIT Delhi student and my neighbours back home are aware that I am looking to be placed this year. So if they start reading reports about my institute or other institutes, they will nag my parents about whether or not I have been placed. Once I get placed, they will ask them about the company and package and even compare with others through those media reports," said a final year IIT Delhi student who is yet to be placed. (Indianexpress.com published a 5-part series on IIT placements. The first part explained why pre-placement offers (PPO) are gaining popularity, and the second part explained the IIT placement process. Third part talks about the forecast of the 2024-25 placement process. The fourth part is from the students' perspective on how to prepare for placements, and the last part is about start-ups making their way back to IITs. You can find all IIT Placement related stories here)
