Worried over low placements, suicides, IIT alumni helps over 200 'disadvantaged' students get jobs

Guwahati: Russel Deb Barma (name changed) was distressed after failing to get job placement at IIT Guwahati last year. An MTech in computer science, belonging to the Scheduled Tribe community in Tripura, Barma got relief when 'The Mentor Circle', a forum of IIT alumni, came forward and mentored him to get the job of a senior software engineer in a big IT company, a few months later.

Like Russel, more than 200 students, mostly belonging to ST, Scheduled Caste and financially "disadvantaged" sections, have got jobs off-campus with the help of the forum, which was set up in May last year after three students died by suicide in IIT Delhi and IIT Bombay. Investigations revealed that the students were depressed over poor placements and shrinking jobs, prompting them to take the extreme step.

"Under our programme called 'The Mentor Circle', we have tried to provide essential guidance, skill development, and networking opportunities to talented students who often face significant barriers to enter the competitive job market. We are glad that our efforts have started making a difference and so far 204 students have got jobs in the past 23 months," Dheeraj Singh, an alumnus of IIT Kanpur (2004), who took the lead in forming the Global IIT Alumni Support Group and 'The Mentoring Circle', told DH on Wednesday. Singh is now a strategy and finance consultant.

Singh, the lead mentor, said 20 students got jobs off-campus from the 2023 batch, while the number now increased to 140. Placements of 47 students are underway from the 2024-2025 batch, he said. The jobs, he said, were from across profiles such as software, data science, data analytics, business analytics, core engineering consulting and R&D. The average CTC of the current season was Rs 17 lakh with one girl getting yearly pay of Rs 40 lakh. The students who got jobs are from several IITs.

The growing distress among IITians caught headlines after students of IIT Guwahati staged protest in September following suicides of three students this year.

Singh said the Global IIT Alumni Support Group is a thriving network of over 1,000 IIT alumni from constitutionally marginalised Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. "Our mission is to foster academic, professional, and social progress among our members, while advocating for diversity and inclusion in higher education."