Puducherry, Jan 4 (IANS): Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan said on Tuesday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would inaugurate the 25th National Youth Festival in the Union Territory on January 12 as part of the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda.

The inaugural ceremony will be held at the Pondicherry Central University.

The Lieutenant Governor said in a statement that the festival is expected to draw around 7,000 youth aged between 18 and 22 from across the country to Puducherry. She said that 500 youth from Puducherry will also participate in the four-day youth festival to be held from January 12 to 16.

Sounderarajan also said that those who are not vaccinated will not be allowed to participate in the youth festival. She said that Union Minister for Youth and Sports Affairs, Anurag Singh Thakur, will reach the UT on Wednesday to oversee the preparations.

The Prime Minister will reach Puducherry by 9.30 am and visit the Aurobindo Ashram. He will then virtually inaugurate the Kamarajar Manimandapam at Samipillaithottam, the National Youth festival, and the tool room of the MSME centre on the Puducherry Technological University campus.

The classes on the campus would be held online from January 5 to 20 as all the delegates will be housed at the hostels of the university.

The Prime Minister will leave for Madurai by 11.40 for Pongal celebrations organised by the state BJP named ‘Modi Pongal' as part of the harvest festival in Tamil Nadu.