GUWAHATI: The current unrest in Manipur has significantly hit campus placements at NIT-Manipur, with recruitments dropping to 50% so far for the 2025 UG batch, compared to 85% two years ago for the 2023 batch.
However, IIIT Manipur continues to successfully conduct IT sector recruitment through virtual means.
NIT-Manipur director DVLN Somayajulu Sunday told TOI several companies have delayed in-person recruitment, while five firms declined virtual recruitment citing internal policies. “Our institution is trying to facilitate physical mode of recruitment. We are optimistic that the situation will improve. The campus placement drive that commenced late Oct will continue till March-April next year. Our placement division is exploring the possibilities of pool recruitment in collaboration with networked institutions, with arrangements to conduct recruitment drives either in Guwahati or Kolkata,” he said.
Somayajulu reiterated that the institute is persuading recruiters to conduct virtual recruitment and HRs are examining this possibility. He, however, added that a network with full-fledged internet connectivity and without disruptions is essential. “We are striving to resolve this from our end,” he said.
In the 2023 batch of NIT-Manipur, 118 out of 138 (85.5%) students landed jobs during campus placements. This was before ethnic clashes broke out in Manipur. In the 2024 batch, 100 out of 130 students secured placements (76.9%). For the 2025 batch so far, 70 out of 140 applicants have been placed, while 10 more companies are scheduled to hold recruitment drives in the next two months.
“Very few PSUs have visited us this time thus far. We are hoping for more companies to participate in the next semester,” Somayajulu said.
However, officials said placements in IT sectors have not encountered such impediments since virtual recruitment is feasible. This has been reflected in case of IIIT Manipur.
“This year, out of 46 aspiring students of our institute, 39 secured campus placements and seven will obtain positions shortly. Their recruitments are in progress. In virtual mode, all have been recruited in IIIT Manipur because our students are from electronics and communication engineering and computer science and engineering streams. Virtual recruitment is readily achievable in their case,” Krishnan Baskar, director of IIIT Manipur, another premier institute in the trouble-torn state, said.
“Since our students were predominantly aspiring for IT sector positions, recruitment through virtual mode is not problematic. Even without physical presence of company officials, these students can be recruited,” he added.