Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta urged young graduates to build India’s own Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems. She spoke at VIT Vellore’s convocation ceremony on August 22, 2026 . Gupta encouraged graduates to move beyond being AI users. They should actively develop AI solutions for India.
AI Development for India
Gupta stated that creating domestic AI is a major contribution. She cited past successes where collaborations with Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) addressed issues like pollution and traffic. The Union government supports this through initiatives like the IndiaAI Mission. Investments focus on semiconductors, computing, defense, space, drones, robotics, and biotechnology.
Resilience and Intellectual Capital
The Chief Minister emphasized graduates as a nation’s most valuable asset. She advised students to embrace failure as a learning opportunity. Resilience is key to overcoming setbacks. Hard work and understanding failures lead to improvement. Gupta highlighted global recognition of Indian engineering talent. She called for similar recognition for Indian technology.
Gupta promoted the national vision of "Make in India," "Invest in India," "Design in India," and "Brand in India." These principles should guide India’s future goals.
Higher Education Enrollment Goals
The Union government aims to increase the higher education enrollment ratio to 50%. Current enrollment stands at approximately 30%. This goal is part of the National Education Policy. VIT Chancellor G. Viswanathan presented international enrollment figures. South Korea has 90% enrollment. Japan and China exceed 60%. Malaysia is at 40%, and Thailand is at 45%.
India has around 1,400 universities and 54,000 colleges. Over 4.5 crore students are enrolled in higher education. India offers more than 50 lakh engineering seats. Medical seats total about 1.3 lakh.
Medical Education Discrepancies
More than 22 lakh students apply for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET). This number exceeds available medical seats. Consequently, approximately 1 lakh Indian students study medicine abroad annually. Major destinations include China (23,000), Russia (18,000), and the Philippines (15,000).
The World Health Organization recommends one doctor per 1,000 people. Tamil Nadu and southern states meet this standard. Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have shortages, with ratios around 1 doctor per 2,000-2,300 people. India has 840 medical colleges with 1.3 lakh seats.
Individual colleges admit 100-150 students yearly. British colleges admit up to 400. Chinese institutions enroll 800-1,200 students. Increasing intake to 1,000 students per institution could create 8 lakh medical seats, provided adequate resources exist.
VIT Convocation Statistics
A total of 11,276 degrees were awarded at the ceremony. This includes 7,359 undergraduate and 3,917 postgraduate degrees. Additionally, 781 students received PhD degrees. Three students earned integrated PhD degrees.
Earlier on August 22, 2026 , Chief Minister Gupta inaugurated VIT's Centre for Advanced Research in Bacteriophage and Infectious Diseases.
