Sam Pitroda’s comment over IIIT Ranchi sparks controversy and left Congress in the spotlight after he made comments that his speaking session at IIIT Ranchi was “hacked” and “pornography” content was displayed.
“Recently I was speaking at the Ranchi IIT…to almost sort of 100 students, and someone hacked in and started showing all the pornography,” he said in a video that widely circulated on social media platforms.
Following the controversy, the Ministry of Education had to intervene on February 26 and made a clarification while disposing of all his allegations.
The Ministry said on X, “It has come to the notice that Shri Sam Pitroda shared a video on his “X” handle on 22nd Feb 2025. He made a statement in that video that he was speaking at the IIT Ranchi to several hundred students, and someone hacked in and started playing some objectionable content, and thus, the event got disrupted,”
Clarification on the recent remarks made by Shri Sam Pitroda in his webcast
— Ministry of Education (@EduMinOfIndia) February 26, 2025
It has come to the notice that Shri Sam Pitroda shared a video on his “X” handle on 22nd Feb 2025. He made a statement in that video that he was speaking at the IIT Ranchi to several hundred students,…
“It is hereby clarified that there is no IIT in Ranchi. Therefore, the statement made in that video is not only baseless but also reeks of ignorance. It is pertinent to state that there is an Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) in Ranchi. But IIIT, Ranchi has also confirmed that Shri Sam Pitroda has not been invited by Institute to any conference/seminar to deliver a lecture, physically or virtually.”
“Such a reckless statement seems to be an attempt to malign the image of an extremely reputed institution of the country, i.e., the Indian Institute of Technology. This institution has stood the test of time and produced some of the brightest minds in the country. Unlike such an uninformed person, IITs reputation is built on the merit, hard work, and achievement of many students, teachers, and academia,” said the ministry, adding that the Ministry of Education condemns the statement and reiterates that any such attempt to malign the image of the premier institution will face legal repercussions.
The post has more than 120k views, and users said, “File a case and drag him to Indian court.”
According to the X account of Pitroda, he is a telecom inventor, entrepreneur, development thinker, and policy maker”. Notably, he first got associated with the Congress as an adviser to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Later, he became the first chairman of the Telecom Commission in 1989.
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