'Wish there were more daughters among medallists': PM Modi at IIT Delhi convocation

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, Aug 8 said he wished more girls were among the medallists and awardees at IIT Delhi's convocation, emphasising the need for greater female participation in academic excellence.

"Because you are not merely receiving a degree; you are leaving here with dreams of doing a lot for the country," Modi said, addressing graduating students at the 57th Convocation Ceremony of IIT Delhi.

Congratulating the students to whom he gave medals and awards for their achievements, he said, "It would have been even better if there had been one or two daughters. Sorry. Why just one or two? There should have been more of them."

Recognising outstanding academic excellence, the prime minister presented the institute's most prestigious honours, including the President's Gold Medal, Director's Gold Medal, Shankar Dayal Sharma Gold Medal, and Perfect Ten Gold Medals, to meritorious students.

The university conferred degrees on over 3,000 graduating students, including 587 PhD scholars, during the ceremony.

The prime minister also inaugurated Param Pragya, an AI-powered high-performance supercomputing facility established at IIT Delhi's Sonipat campus. The state-of-the-art facility is expected to significantly enhance the institute's capabilities in AI, data science, advanced computing and interdisciplinary research.