It is more than twenty years since the Bhopal gas tragedy but the after effects continue to linger. Dow Chemical, which inherited the Bhopal legacy when it acquired Union Carbide, is reportedly facing opposition yet again and this time from students at Indian engineering colleges.
This report by an Indian television channel says that students, professors and technical staff at seven Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) are protesting against Dow’s attempts to recruit engineers and pre-placement talks at the institutes have been cancelled.
The story has a wider implication for the entire chemical industry. With job opportunities multiplying, students are in a position to be choosy and avoid companies that they believe are not doing enough for the society or those that do not have a good environmental track record.