IIT alumni create a website to mentor SC and ST students on career options

Singh pointed out that during the Covid-19 pandemic and even after that, in early 2022, they formally approached IITs to establish mentoring clubs on their campuses, but no one supported the idea. “Only IIT Delhi allowed us to interact with 100 students this year. After that, we decided to start an open forum and launched a website https://sites.google.com/view/mentoringiitians/.”

A group of former students of Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) has created a website to support scheduled caste (SC) and scheduled tribe (ST) students who struggle with the issues of language discrimination and bullying.

The website was launched on October 1 and till now, 150 students have logged in for help.

The website was launched on October 1 and till now, 150 students have logged in for help. As many as 500 alumni have also registered to provide all kinds of assistance, including career guidance, to these students.

While addressing the challenges encountered by SC/ST students, the group proposed initiation of a mentorship programme at the institutes in Delhi and Kanpur.

“The ‘mentoring club’ is an initiative launched by Global IIT Alumni Support Group. It was established in 2023 following the tragic incident of Darshan Solanki’s death at IIT Bombay. Considering the limited support available for students hailing from underprivileged backgrounds, our alumni recognised the need for mentoring. This necessity became even more pronounced with the recent loss of two students, Ayush Asna and Anil Kumar, on the campus of IIT Delhi,” Dheeraj Singh, the group anchor and lead mentor, said.

The group has successfully raised funds to support the families of Solanki and Kumar.

Singh pointed out that during the Covid-19 pandemic and even after that, in early 2022, they formally approached IITs to establish mentoring clubs on their campuses, but no one supported the idea. “Only IIT Delhi allowed us to interact with 100 students this year. After that, we decided to start an open forum and launched a website https://sites.google.com/view/mentoringiitians/.”

While talking about his experience, Singh recollected the memories of students who cried in front of him and went out to express their feelings about the friends, the organisation, and the teachers.

“The USP of this initiative is contextual mentoring by alumni who faced similar social and academic issues and are now doing well in life. Due to scarce resources, we are limiting the offering to SC/ST students and are keen to make it open to all in due course,” he said. The initiative also seeks to provide emotional and mental health support to students to spread hope and drive excellence in their pursuits.

Currently, this club is assisting the 2024 graduating batch of IITians in CVs, interview questions, personalised mock interviews by industry experts, job search, and salary negotiation support.

Singh said the idea began on WhatsApp groups and soon students from across the institutes in the country started reaching out to them independently.

Around 150 final-year SC/ST students from B.Tech., M.Tech., M.Sc., Ph.D., and master’s in public policy have already signed up for the programme. They are from IITs in Mandi, Dhanbad, Gandhinagar, Bombay, Delhi, Kanpur, BHU, Jammu, and Guwahati.

A written testimonial that was submitted by an IIT Bombay student after the session stated, “It was a good, informative 1:1 session. I got some good input and gained some confidence.”

Another student from IIT Bombay wrote, “As a Ph.D. candidate, I learned about major revisions to be done in my CV, which could have really hampered my chances. Also, I could get an understanding of the psychology of the interviewer and the process. I feel more motivated to work on building my best for the interview.”

Global IIT Alumni Support Group started in 2017. It is a professional networking platform for IIT alumni belonging to the constitutionally underprivileged or marginalised SC/ST. The group has more than 500 members from across the world.