New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the 25th National Youth Festival today in Puducherry via video conferencing at 11 AM.


The two-day festival will give an opportunity to discuss the issues related to the development and motivate the youth of the country to solve the challenges regarding the same. There will also be an open discussion with Olympians and Paralympians. 


The PM will also unveil the selected essays on “India of My Dreams” and “Unsung Heroes of The Indian Freedom Movement”. An auditorium known as ‘Perunthalaivar Kamarajar Manimandapam’ consisting of an MSME technological centre and an open-air theatre will also be inaugurated. 


The National Youth Festival is celebrated to commemorate the Swami Vivekananda Jayanti. The festival aims to give a direction to young minds towards national development. It is a huge step towards social bonding and intellectual and cultural integrity. The main aim of this festival is to gain from the demographic dividend of the country and create the narrative of ‘Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat’.


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Keeping in mind the covid-19 protocol, this year the festival will be held virtually on January 12 and 13. It will be followed by the National Youth Summit in which panel discussions will be held on four major topics. 


It will include issues like the environment, climate change, SDG Led Growth, technology, entrepreneurship and innovation, indigenous and ancient Wisdom, national character, nation-building among others.


The participants will also get a glimpse of recorded video capsules of the Auroville, Puducherry’s immersive city experience, indigenous sports and folk dances.  It will be followed by an open discussion with Olympians and Paralympians in the evening. 


There will also be virtual yoga sessions in the morning. After that, the PM will also unveil the selected essays which are written by more than one lakh students on the topics of “India of My Dreams” and “Unsung Heroes of The Indian Freedom Movement”


The PM will also inaugurate a technological centre of the MSME ministry which is built at an investment of 122 crores. Focusing on the Electronic System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) Sector, this centre will be equipped with the latest technology. It will help in skill development of the youth and train approximately 6400 young minds every year. 


The auditorium that will be inaugurated by the PM is built at a cost of Rs 23 crores by the Puducherry government. It will be majorly used for educational purposes. It will be able to accommodate 1000 people at once.