PM Modi urges gender parity at IIT Delhi convocation

Prime Minister Narendra Modi served as chief guest and delivered a keynote address at the 57th convocation ceremony of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi on Saturday, August 8, 2026. During the event, he congratulated the more than 3,000 graduating students, presented the institute’s top academic honors, inaugurated a new supercomputing facility, and called for greater gender parity among top academic achievers.

Modi presided over a ceremony that conferred degrees on over 3,000 students, including 587 Ph.D. scholars. He presented several of IIT Delhi's most prestigious awards, including the President’s Gold Medal, Director’s Gold Medal, Shankar Dayal Sharma Gold Medal, and Perfect Ten Gold Medals. In his remarks, the Prime Minister expressed pride in the graduates, stating that they were not just receiving degrees but also taking forward the dream of contributing to the country.

A notable theme of his address was the relatively low number of women among the medal recipients. Modi observed that while he congratulated all the awardees, it would have been better if there were more female students among them. He urged the graduating class to work toward narrowing the...