IIT-B names, shames start-ups for reneging on job offers

Mumbai: In an unprecedented move, the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B) on Thursday released the names of nine companies it has blacklisted for allegedly going back on plum job placements they offered to its students.

These companies, most of them start-ups, were blacklisted for one year for various reasons, IIT-B spokesperson Falguni Banerjee-Naha said.

Among the erring companies is LeGarde Burnett Group, which revoked its job offers and was later found to be a fake, without a proper company address.

Companies LexInnova and IndusInsight delayed the joining dates given to the selected students, Banerjee-Naha said.

The others said to have revoked job offers were GPSK, Johnson Electric of China, Portea Medical, Peppertap and Cashcare Technologies.

One firm, Mera Hunar, came up with a different name and hired the IIT-B students for another start-up.

The list of nine companies named on Thursday is not final and more could follow depending on their responses in future, the spokesperson said.

It is the first time that a prestigious institution like the IIT-B has published a list of blacklisted companies for reneging on job offers to its passouts.

The matter had been under review for a couple of months after these companies defaulted on their job offers, and was discussed at a recent national-level conclave of all IITs in the country.

Taking a cue from IIT-B, other IITs are expected to follow suit and announce their own lists of companies that have gone back on their placement commitments.

IIT-B Placements Cell official Dipesh Chauhan said while seven companies were Indian, two -- Johnson Electric and LeGarde Burnett Group -- were from China and Australia respectively.

"Every year, many companies approach us for recruitment. Based on some background check, we invite them for placements. The placement cell didn't contact them," Chauhan said.

Most of them are genuine firms, which visit the IIT-B campus for the final round of interviews. Officials of the two foreign companies came from Sydney and Hong Kong.

Most of them are now saying they are revoking or deferring the joining dates of the students "due to some internal restructuring", Chauhan added.