'I am an aam aadmi; you can becocme PM too,'Manmohan tells kids

New Delhi, Nov 14 : 'I am an aam aadmi...It is because of my education that I am what I am.' That is how Prime Minister Manmohan Singh replied to a student when asked about the recipe to become a leader like him.

''If I can become Prime Minister, so can you. I come from a very ordinary, lower-middle class family. It is because of my education that I am what I am,'' he said during an interaction with a gruop of students.

The students were taken to the Prime Minister's 7, Race Course Road official residence by the CNNIBN on the eve of the Children's Day to meet Dr Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur.

He said he felt that education had played a very important role in making him what he was, and advised the children to take full advantage of the education opportunities they get.

''I would like very child in our country to grow up in an atmosphere where his or her capabilities can find a way in some kind of creative values. I would like all children to get decent quality of education as well as health care. I would like our children to grow up into adulthood, confident that they can take up any job that they like,'' he said.

Replying to a question, the Prime Minister admitted that the education was getting costlier as far as private schools were concerned, but said in government schools, every effort was being made to ensure that education doesn't become a privilege of the rich.

Asked why do Indians win the Nobel Prize after they leave India, he said: ''In India, we do not have that atmosphere where much importance is given to people who can think out of the box. The trend of questioning things has not been a part of our education system and that is why we see that when Indian children go abroad they do much better in terms of education and research.'' The Prime Minister also answered a number of questions relating to his personal life.

He told students that in childhood, he was once punished by his father.

''I recall that once my father had lost his watch and some money.

Some guest at our home had taken it away, but my father suspected me. I got a thrashing from him, but later when my parents got to know it was someone else they felt very sorry about punishing me.''

--UNI

(c) 2009 Published with permission from United News of India.
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