No, IIT Kanpur does not have a cruel policy of allotting roommates and rooms on the basis of JEE ranks. You cannot assign someone a room on the basis of his achievements. This is pure discrimination and this practice should be discontinued. 

The only 2 institutes that follow this extreme policy are IIT and IIT BHU. The purpose of this is to ensure better living standards and ultimately better outputs from the treasures of the Institute. 

In IIT Kanpur rooms and roommates are allotted randomly and you can expect almost anyone as your roommate. Your roommates play a major role in influencing your grades, examinations, and social life.

It’s good to make new friends and socialize, but remember life at IIT Kanpur is very rigorous and not a single moment should be wasted on useless activities.