IIT Ranchi Doesn’t Exist: Sam Pitroda’s Hacking Claim Reeks Of Ignorance, Says Centre

New Delhi: The Education Ministry fact-checked Indian Overseas Congress chairperson Sam Pitroda after he claimed that his virtual session with students of “IIT Ranchi” was disrupted by hackers who played objectionable content.

“I was speaking at the Ranchi IIT to almost several hundred students, and someone hacked in and started showing all the pornography. We had to turn it off. Now, is that democracy? Is that fair?” asked the former advisor to Rajiv Gandhi while sharing a clip on his social media handle.

The Ministry dismissed his statement as “baseless” and clarified that no such institution exists in Ranchi.

“It has come to the notice that Shri Sam Pitroda shared a video on his X handle on 22nd February 2025, claiming he was speaking at IIT Ranchi when the event was disrupted due to hacking. 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,” the post on its official X handle stated.

It further pointed out that Ranchi has an Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT). “…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. …any such attempt to malign the image of the premier institution will face legal repercussions,” it added.

Pitroda is known for sparking controversies with his statements with the recent being his claim that the threat from China is often blown out of proportion. He also received brickbats for describing India as a “… diverse country… where people on East look like Chinese, people on West look like Arab, people on North look like maybe White and people in South look like Africa”. 

The Congress had distanced itself from these remarks.