NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday participated in the 57th convocation ceremony of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, where he presented the institute’s highest honours to meritorious students.At the event, PM Modi urged IIT Delhi graduates to encourage greater participation and representation of women in academic and professional achievements, noting that only a few female students had received medals at the ceremony.PM Modi congratulated the award-winning students but said there should have been "more" girls among them."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," PM Modi said.

PM Modi presented IIT Delhi’s most prestigious honours, including the President’s Gold Medal, Director’s Gold Medal, Shankar Dayal Sharma Gold Medal and Perfect Ten Gold Medals.PM Modi also inaugurated Param Pragya, an AI-powered high-performance supercomputing facility at the Sonipat campus of IIT Delhi.

The Prime Minsiter addressed more than 3,000 graduating students, including 587 PhD scholars, who were conferred their degrees during IIT Delhi’s 57th convocation ceremony.IIT Delhi Board of Governors Chairperson Harish Salve and institute director Prof Rangan Banerjee felicitated Prime Minister Modi and Union Minister Pralhad Joshi during the ceremony.

Also read: PM Modi addresses IIT Delhi graduates; highlights rapid tech shiftA day earlier, PM Modi had announced his participation in the ceremony and praised IIT Delhi’s contribution to research and innovation in the country."At 11 AM tomorrow, 8th August, I will be attending the Convocation Ceremony at IIT Delhi. I look forward to being among the students and teachers of this pioneering institution. IIT Delhi has always made a rich contribution in the fields of research and innovation," PM Modi said in a post on X.