BIT, Sindri

Dhanbad, July 5: Technology institutes in the coal belt are peeved with the directive of Nasscom to hold placements during the last semester of the course, a system the organisation for software companies mooted to ensure that academic standards were maintained.

Most of the institutes in Dhanbad and nearby areas have, however, started following the Nasscom directive from last year. While Indian School of Mines University reluctantly follows it in letter and spirit, BIT, Sindri, has tweaked it to suit core sector employers.

BIT, Sindri, which has so far got jobs for 462 of its students in the 2009 batch of the BTech course, has stuck to placements during the sixth semester for core sector, or non-software, companies. But, it follows the Nasscom order with respect to software companies.

Expressing his views on the Nasscom directive, BIT, Sindri director S.K. Singh agreed it was intended to maintain the academic standards of an institute since students began neglecting their studies after being selected during the sixth or seventh semester.

“But it also affects the placement of our students in software companies. After carrying out placements for core sector companies, we don’t have enough good students left for the software companies that are invited late,” he explained.

Last year, he noted, there weren’t enough students left for Wipro. Chiranjeev Kumar, the training and placement officer of ISM, said delaying the recruitment session affected the process adversely.

“Though we have not yet received the Nasscom communication, we may have to reschedule placements this year to December from mid-September as planned earlier. But a final decision will be taken only after a discussion with the higher authorities,” he said, adding that he had heard that the software companies’ organisation had also asked various recruiters to visit campuses during the last semester only.

V. P Sharma, the professor in charge of training and placements at ISM said delaying placements till December or January made it difficult for the institute to complete the process within two to three months.

Nasscom started the system last year in order to force students to concentrate on studies till the end of the last semester as students often took things lightly after getting a job in the seventh or eighth semester.