National Institute of Technology. Telegraph picture

Patna, Oct. 2: The teachers and students of National Institute of Technology (NIT) have been left in shock at the recently published result for the posts of Bihar State Electricity Board (BSEB) assistant engineers. For, very few students of the tech cradle featured in the list of successful candidates.

Sources said 60 final-year students of NIT had appeared for the interview in April this year. The results were published on September 30. Only 11 NIT students featured in the list. BSEB had vacancy for 120 posts.

Students of other tech institutes, who also appeared for the interview, have been more successful. Forty-eight students of Muzaffarpur Institute of Technology (MIT), 35 from Bhagalpur College of Engineering (BCE), and 27 from Birla Institute of Technology (BIT), Patna, have made it to the merit list.

Students and teachers of NIT have accused the BSEB administration of ignoring the students of the premiere tech cradle of the state capital.

A senior professor of the institute said: “The BSEB administration has given preference to the students of MIT, BCE and BIT in the appointment process.”

He added: “When we contacted the BSEB administration after the publication of the final merit list, they claimed that the selection had been made on the basis of marks scored by the students in their final year. It is, however, unfair to compare the marks of NIT students with that of other institutes. Here, the students have to clear eight semesters over four years, whereas students of MIT and BCE still clear yearly examinations.”

The professor said: “The evaluation process of NIT is very different from other engineering colleges. They are also exposed to a number of training programmes and are better trained than students of other institutes.”

Mukesh Kumar, a final-year student of NIT, said: “The final selection list prepared by the BSEB is unfair. There cannot be any comparison between budding techies of NIT and students of MIT and BCE. Also, the students get admitted to NIT through the All-India Engineering Entrance Examination conducted by CBSE. Students from all over India study at the institute.”

BSEB officials, however, denied the allegations. A.K. Sinha, the joint secretary of BSEB, told The Telegraph: “Selection of candidates was done on the basis of their final-year results. It was done in a fair manner.”

Asked how so few students of NIT could have been selected, Sinha refused to comment on it.

The BSEB had invited students from NIT, MIT, BCE and BIT in April for the interview. The process ran into rough weather when some students of MIT approached the high court to allow passouts to appear for the interview as well.