Can PSUs go for campus hiring? Madras HC sees no problem

THE Madras High Court has declined to direct several PSUs, including the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), to ban campus interviews and to forbear the Central and State PSUs from participating in campus recruitment. Rejecting a plea by M. Palanimuthu, the first bench comprising Chief Justice S.K. Kaul and Justice T.S. Sivagnanam observed that the method of campus recruitment has been...

in vogue for over a decade, and the process has worked well and there has been no complaint by any candidate.

The Bench said, “In the present-day scenario, they have to compete with multinational private companies and other public sector units and get the best talent and one such method which has been time tested is to go to the place (institution) where talent pool is available’.”

The petitioner had stated while thousands of graduates were waiting for employment after completing their courses in reputed universities and institutions several PSUs resorted to selection of candidates by conducting campus interviews.

Earlier, in a bid to infuse fresh blood into the bank, State Bank of India chief said that public sector banks should be given an opportunity to tap the best talent from premier institutes like IITs and IIMs. This aims at infusing the fresh talents into the banks. "The public money goes into formation of the institutions like IITs and IIMs. From all of these good institutions, which nurture the best talents of the country, the public sector banks are barred from recruitment," SBI chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya said.

At present, the Supreme Court does not allow state-run banks to go for campus recruitment to these premier institutions as every vacancy has to be advertised so that everyone should be able to participate in it. "Now, what kind of a country actually spends tax payers money and then stops the public sector banks from taking talents from these institutions," she said.

She said that by not allowing public sector banks to recruit from IITs and IIMs, it is creating a barrier and does not give them a level-playing field.

"If without this the public sector has delivered so much then imagine what we will deliver if we are allowed...," she added.

Private investment banks participate in B-school placements in a big way and hire the best brains. But the state owned banks are deprived of the same.

Public sector banks can hire officers only through examinations such as those conducted by the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS).