Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday lauded the "sense of responsibility" of the country's youth and said it manifested in the pace of Covid-19 vaccination in the 15-18 years age group that has covered over two crore children since its rollout this month.

Virtually inaugurating the 25th edition of the National Youth Festival here, Modi also said his government's recent decision to increase the legal marriage age of women to 21 years was for the betterment of "our daughters" and ensure that they had a career and also the time.

Hailing the pace of vaccination of the 15-18 years age group, he said this showed the "sense of responsibility" of the youngsters, especially witnessed during the pandemic period.

"The role of the youth in the success of our covid vaccination programme is being witnessed altogether at a different level. We are seeing that the youth in the 15-18 years age group are getting themselves vaccinated at a quick pace. In such a short time, over two crore children have been vaccinated. This exemplifies the sense of responsibility in today's youth and my confidence in a bright future of the country is further strengthened," he said.

The vaccination for the children of this age group was launched on January 3.