New Delhi: Addressing the National Youth Day function on Wednesday, PM Narendra Modi said, "Today, if the youth of India is interested in technology, there is also a consciousness of democracy. Today, if the youth of India has the power of labour, there is also the clarity of the future. That is why, what India says today, the world considers it to be the voice of tomorrow.'' The Prime Minister has inaugurated the 25th Youth Festival in Puducherry through video conferencing. He is also scheduled to inaugurate 11 new Government Medical Colleges in Tamil Nadu.

Speaking at the launch of the same 25th Youth Festival, the Prime Minister said, "Best wishes to all of you on National Youth Day. I salute Swami Vivekananda, the great child of Mother India, on his birth anniversary.'' The birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda is celebrated every year on 12th January as Youth Day. The Prime Minister further said, "His birth anniversary has become more inspiring in the Amrit Mahotsav of Independence. We are celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of Aurobindo Ji this year and this year is also the 100th death anniversary of great poet Subramania Bharati Ji. These two have a special relationship with Puducherry. Both of them have been partners in each other's literary and spiritual journeys.''

PM Narendra Modi has inaugurated Perunthalaivar Kamarajar Manimandapam, an auditorium with open-air theatre, through video conferencing, which has been constructed by the Puducherry government at a cost of about Rs 23 crore. Addressing the function, he said, "Today, the world sees India with a vision of hope, from a confident point of view. Because, the people of India are also young, and the mind of India is also young. India is young even with its own strength, India is younger than its dreams. India is younger than its thinking, India is younger than its consciousness.'' At the same time, the PM said, "We believe that sons and daughters are the same. With this thought, the government has decided to increase the age of marriage to 21 years for the betterment of daughters. This is a very important step in the direction that daughters can also pursue their careers, they get more time. There have been many of our fighters in the freedom struggle whose contributions did not get the recognition they deserved. The more our youth write and research about such human beings, the more awareness will increase in the future generations of the country.''

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