"Many students have received medals for their achievements. I extend my heartiest congratulations to all of you. However, it would have been even better if there were a few more girls among them. Sorry. Why just one or two? There should have been more," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at IIT Delhi's 57th convocation ceremony on Saturday.
He congratulated students on their academic achievements but said he would have liked to see more women among the medal winners.
PM Modi attended the event as the chief guest, and spoke to the stuents after presenting the institute's top honours to graduating students. He said he would have liked to see more women among the medal winners, The Times of India reported.
More than 3,000 students graduated at the ceremony, including 587 PhD scholars.
#WATCH | IIT Delhi's 57th Convocation Ceremony | PM Modi says, "Many students have received medals for their achievements. I extend my heartiest congratulations to all of you. However, it would have been even better if there were a few more girls among them. Sorry. Why just one… pic.twitter.com/p1EW4o5eWs
— ANI (@ANI) August 8, 2026
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PM Modi presented some of the institute's most prestigious honours to meritorious graduating students during the ceremony. These academic honours included:
- President's Gold Medal
- Director's Gold Medal
- Shankar Dayal Sharma Gold Medal
- Perfect Ten Gold Medals
He said that the graduates were entering professional life at a time when technological change is happening rapidly and the global balance of power is shifting quickly. Modi also highlighted developments such as unicorn companies, digital payments and the fintech revolution, saying that these had created opportunities for young Indians, ET reported.
The Prime Minister also spoke about the growing opportunities for young researchers. He referred to the Prime Minister's Research Fellowship, the Research, Development and Innovation Scheme, and the National Research Foundation as initiatives to strengthen research and innovation.
Union Education Minister Prahlad Joshi also addressed the IIT Delhi convocation. He stated that women now account for nearly 44% of enrolment in STEM disciplines. The Economic Times reported that Joshi described this as one of the highest proportions of female STEM participation globally.
During his visit, Modi also inaugurated Prem Pragya, an AI-powered high performance supercomputing facility at IIT Delhi's Sonipat Campus, ET reported.
The facility is intended to strengthen the institute's capabilities in areas involving advanced computing, artificial intelligence and research.
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