IIT Delhi director Ramgopal Rao has appealed to companies to be “considerate” amid news that some of them have begun cancelling their job offers to students, fearful that the Covid-19 crisis and the lockdown would aggravate an already struggling economy.

Rao has pleaded that the prospective employers not “complicate the lives of these brightest children” at a time reports say that jobs offered to fourth-year IIT students by recruiters who had visited the campuses in December-January were being withdrawn.

The IIMs, National Institutes of Technology and several other centrally funded technical institutions are said to be experiencing a similar situation.

These institutions are planning to invite potential recruiters to undertake another round of placement interviews in July-August.

Industry internship by the tech schools’ students — an academic requirement — threatens to become another casualty.

Also, the locked down IITs, IIMs and other institutions are thinking of pushing the start of the academic calendar for 2020-21 beyond June-July this year.

“A sincere request to all the corporates who have offered jobs to graduates of IIT Delhi (and for that matter, of other IITs, colleges and universities in India which follow similar placement policies) and (are) thinking of withdrawing them now because of current situation,” Rao wrote on his Facebook page on Friday.

“Please note that, in IITs, the placement process works very different from similar top institutions abroad. Once a student is offered a placement, as per IIT Delhi policy, the student is not allowed to sit for other placements.

“Students trust the companies with their offers and do not even apply for (jobs with) other companies. As a result, if a job or an internship offer is withdrawn at this stage, the student, having given up her/his right to apply for other similar jobs, will end up not having any job right now.”

Rao added: “We all understand that these are difficult times. But please be considerate to keep your promises. A few months of delay may be fine. Please do not complicate the lives of these brightest children in an already complex environment. If at all, they are capable of getting you out of recession faster than you can imagine.”

Rao told The Telegraph that one company had already cancelled the offers it had made to students.

“We are taking it up with them independently. We may have to do a special round of placements,” he said.

An IIT Bombay teacher said the recruiters offer jobs after interviews but send the appointment letters only around June-July. By then, the fourth-year BTech students have competed their final exams and other formalities.

The teacher said: “There is no clarity on what is going to happen to the economy as a result of the lockdown. So, the corporate houses are mostly tight-lipped.”

“It’s difficult to anticipate what the scale of the job offer cancellations will be, but it may be huge since most industries are in complete lockdown.”

An IIM Calcutta professor too said that many firms might withdraw their job offers to students or ask them to report later.

“The students will be under stress during this period,” he said.

He said the classes for the institution’s executive MBA programme, scheduled to start in mid-April, might be affected. The B-school has decided to offer online lectures for the initial classes. The start of the regular MBA classes too may miss the June schedule.

The government has written to corporate houses and public sector undertakings asking them not to lay off or cut the salaries of employees during the Covid-19 crisis.

However, the companies’ cancellations of — or non-committal approach towards — the jobs offered to IIT students could be seen as an indicator of a severe job crisis in India, said Amarjeet Kaur, general secretary of the CPI-backed workers’ body Aituc.

IIT Kanpur has faced similar cancellations. Its director Abhay Karandikar said a special placement drive might be launched later.

“We will take stock in end-April or May. If necessary, we will launch a special placement drive in July-August for those who lose their promised jobs,” he said.

“Right now the priority is the safety and health of all. After that, we need to plan for the lost academic semester.”

Rajeev Kumar, a professor of computer science at JNU, said there were serious concerns about jobs because of the economic slowdown. But, he said, not all sectors may be affected — some may see huge demands.

“A new order will emerge as part of a post-pandemic stability. There will be huge demands for highly skilled people in sectors like the bio-sciences, manufacture of personalised life-saving devices, online educational software, etc. Therefore, the placement scenario will turn upside down,” Kumar said.

The IITs have postponed the final semester exams for the fourth-year students. All the institutions have closed and it’s unclear when they might reopen. Rao said the admission process may not be held in June-July.

Because of the lockdown, industry and research institutions are not allowing internship stints by students — a prime avenue for gaining work exposure and research experience and an academic requirement for all BTech students.

Rao said IIT Delhi students would intern under their teachers at the institute if the lockdown persisted. A part of the internship can be done online, he said.

The All India Council for Technical Education, which regulates BTech and MBA programmes at engineering and management colleges, will not be rigid about the internship requirement, its chairman Anil Sahasrabuddhe told this newspaper.