Ranked 67th in 2016, Srinagar NIT pulls out of race this year

JAMMU: The National Institute of Technology (NIT), Srinagar, which was among the top 100 institutes of the country in 2016, pulled out of the race in January this year and did not apply for the ranking considering the conditions at the institute following the campus clashes and the unrest in the Valley last year.

Policemen stand guard at the gate of the National Institute of Technology in Srinagar. File Photo

Amit Khajuria

Tribune News Service

Jammu, May 5

The National Institute of Technology (NIT), Srinagar, which was among the top 100 institutes of the country in 2016, pulled out of the race in January this year and did not apply for the ranking considering the conditions at the institute following the campus clashes and the unrest in the Valley last year.

Institutes have to apply for the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) in January every year and the list is made public in April.

The NIRF had ranked the NIT-Srinagar 67th in the top 100 technical institutes of the country in 2016, but after analysing its position following the unrest in Kashmir, the institute has not even applied for the ranking this year.

The unrest last year had delayed the start of the new session. The session which was to start in July had begun in November-end. Of the 620 seats (310 each for local and non-local students) at the NIT, only 400 seats were filled, which included 310 seats for local students. Most of the renowned companies have not visited the NIT for the campus placements this year.

Sources said the institute administration had analysed the conditions and decided not to apply for the NIRF ranking as it felt the institute would not figure even in the top 200 institutions this year.

Given the negative impact of the clashes at the NIT-Srinagar, not many NIT teams participated in the inter-NIT games held in Srinagar for the first time. Of the 19 NITs that usually take part in the inter-NIT games, only four NITs (Silchar, Jaipur, Calicut and Puducherry) took part in the games held in Srinagar.

The major setback for the NIT students, however, is that no reputed company has come for the campus placements this year.

“This year, except Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL), no reputed company has visited our campus for placements. The HPCL selected only nine students from the NIT in Srinagar,” said a student of final year on condition of anonymity.

“The future of all students of this institute looks bleak and, if the scenario continues, no one will want to get admission to this institute,” he added.

Students feared that given the negative attention received by their institute, they may get rejected by reputed multinational companies at the time of the interview in future.

The premier technical institute of the state was in the news last year after local and non-local students clashed over the defeat of the Indian cricket team against West Indies in the World Cup T-20 semi-finals.

No major companies visit for placement

Following the campus clashes and the unrest in the Valley last year, no reputed companies have visited the NIT-Srinagar for the campus placements this year
The unrest last year had delayed the start of the new session till November. Of the 620 seats (310 each for local and non-local students) at the NIT, only 400 seats were filled, which included 310 seats for local students