QCI offers jobs to IIM-A, IITians on Flipkart's refusal

New Delhi: After they were left waiting by e-commerce major Flipkart, Quality Council of India (QCI) has come to the rescue of IIM Ahmedabad and IIT graduates, offering them jobs for an interim period. 

"We have got the word out that while they wait for their lucrative Flipkart job, they can come and work with us for six months to 1 year," QCI Chairman Adil Zainulbhai told PTI. 

Flipkart had earlier refused to honour its job commitment to students of the prestigious institutes until December, as against June promised earlier. 

QCI, an autonomous body under DIPP, takes in a lot of young graduates every year as interns for analytics, research and field work for the jobs like the 'Swachh Survekshan' it recently undertook to review sanitation and hygiene conditions in 73 major cities (comprising 40 per cent of India's total urban population). 

"Ofcourse we cannot pay them as well, but if they want to make meaningful contribution, they are most welcome at QCI," Zainulbhai said. "By joining QCI, you could contribute to flagship public projects like Swachh Bharat, Swachh Survekshan and make a difference you always wanted to." 

QCI is a quasi-governmental organisation housed within the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP). While QCI's main role is in certification and accreditation of quality across various sectors including education and healthcare, it is now increasingly taking on roles in Quality Promotion across the nation through various national level initiatives, ensuring quality across all spheres (Make in India, Swachh Bharat Mission and Start-up India, etc). 

He said every year QCI Chairman's Office hires a group of young professionals from IIMs and IITs, to work on various projects the organisation undertakes. 

"We can take 30, 40 or 50 graduates," he said. "We have enough projects to keep them busy." 

QCI has projects with Ministry of Urban Development, Niti Aayog, Prime Minister's Office, Ministry of MSMEs, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ministry of Power, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, among others. 

Last month, Flipkart had said it will defer the joining of campus recruits from institutions like IIM-A and IITs until December citing restructuring of its businesses as the reason. It had hired 18 management graduates from IIM-A. 

The institutions had sent out stern replies that the e-commerce major should honour the offers made, saying the students felt cheated for no fault of theirs for choosing the company over other brands and will suffer as they have to re-pay their education loans. 

Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) were also mulling stripping Flipkart of its Day One status in their campus placement programmes. 

Flipkart is now said to have offered internships to the recruits whose joining dates were earlier deferred by six months, giving them a monthly stipend of Rs 50,000 and initial accommodation of 15 days. The official contract will start from December.