The Indian Panorama

Tag: Balwant Singh

  • ‘I Am In A Dire Situation’: IIT-Roorkee Graduate Shares Heartbreaking Story As Unable To Secure Job Since January

    ‘I Am In A Dire Situation’: IIT-Roorkee Graduate Shares Heartbreaking Story As Unable To Secure Job Since January

    NEW DELHI/NEW YORK (TIP): Balwant Singh, an IIT-Roorkee graduate who did B. Tech in Computer Science Engineering in 2022, wrote in a post on LinkedIn saying his family’s wellbeing hangs in the balance, and the pressure to provide is immense.
    Balwant Singh, an IIT-Roorkee graduate who did B. Tech in Computer Science Engineering in 2022, wrote in a post on LinkedIn saying his family’s wellbeing hangs in the balance, and the pressure to provide is immense.
    IIT-Roorkee CSE graduate Balwant Singh could not get a job in the campus placement in 2022; he later found an internship outside the campus, at Cognizant; sometime later, he lost his internship role as well

    At a time when reports are doing rounds on IITs’ below-par placement rate, an IIT-Roorkee graduate took to social media on Monday, April 8, to share his “dire situation” in a heartbreaking post, saying that he is “desperately” reaching out for help, as he has not been able to secure a job since January despite efforts.

    “I’m in a dire situation and desperately reaching out for help. After graduating from IIT Roorkee in 2022 with a CSE degree, I’ve found myself in an unexpected struggle. The burden of supporting my family and managing mounting debts is growing heavier by the day. Despite my efforts, I haven’t been able to secure a job since January, and the stress is unbearable,” Balwant Singh, the IIT-Roorkee graduate who did B. Tech in Computer Science Engineering in 2022, wrote in a post on LinkedIn.

    Talking to news18.com, Balwant Singh said he could not get a job from IIT-Roorkee in the campus placement in 2022 when his B. Tech was completed. Later, he found an internship outside the campus, at Cognizant. Sometime later, he lost his internship role as well at the IT company amid layoffs and has been unemployed since March 2023. Meanwhile, he was preparing for the GATE exam.

    In the LinkedIn post, he said his family’s well-being hangs in the balance, and the pressure to provide is immense.

    “We’re facing financial difficulties like never before, and I’m at a point where any salary will do. I just need a chance to work, to earn, and to start clearing our debts. Despite being an alumnus of IIT Roorkee, I have not received any support from any of my peers. This post is a desperate attempt for me to get an interview, I am ready to learn and open to any roles available in the IT field,” the IIT-Roorkee graduate wrote.

    Meanwhile, as per reports recently, this year at IIT Bombay, a significant 36 per cent of the 2,000 students who registered for the 2024 placements are still looking for job offers.
    (Report by Mohammad Haris)

  • Sedition law must go

    British-era clause can’t be used to fix activists, journalists

    After over seven decades of Independence, India is struggling to get rid of the sedition law – widely misused against activists and journalists. In view of its ‘chilling effect’, the Supreme Court has decided to examine the archaic Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in the context of media freedom after the filing of sedition cases against journalists in Andhra Pradesh. According to Section 124A, a person commits sedition if he/she brings or attempts to bring in hatred or contempt or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards the government established by law in India. It attracts life imprisonment.

    After Independence, sedition was proposed in the Constituent Assembly as one of the grounds to restrict freedom of speech and expression. But KM Munshi opposed it, saying that if sedition were allowed to stay, ‘an erroneous impression would be created that we want to perpetuate 124A of the IPC or its meaning which was considered good law in earlier days.’ After the Constitution came into force, the Punjab High Court in Tara Singh Gopi Chand v. the State (1951) declared Section 124A unconstitutional. Once described as ‘highly objectionable and obnoxious’ by Nehru, Section 124A continues to be on the statute book, thanks to the First Amendment piloted by him that added ‘public order’ to Article 19(2) as a ground to restrict free speech.

    It was on the basis of public order in Article 19(2) that the SC, in Kedarnath Singh’s case (1962), upheld the validity of Section 124A. However, the court restricted its scope to some extent. In Balwant Singh’s case (1995), it let off two men accused of raising anti-India slogans, hours after Indira Gandhi’s assassination in 1984, saying that raising of slogans a couple of times – which neither evoked any response nor any reaction from the public – couldn’t attract sedition. The court’s comment about possible filing of sedition cases against news channels for showing a body being thrown into a river indicates that the problem runs much deeper. Many countries, including the UK and Australia, have abolished the sedition law. It’s time for India to follow suit.

    (Tribune, India)