"I express my gratitude towards Raman Singh and Chhattisgarh that they they have understood the importance and need for education and tried to help you (students) through schools to prepare for competitive exams and joint entrance examinations," the Prime Minister said.
The Prime Minister met here over 150 tribal students from Maoist-affected areas of Chhattisgarh who have been brought here by the Chief Minister. They have cleared entrance examinations for getting into engineering institutes.
He also congratulated the Chief Minister for his plans to further promote the effort to provide education to children in these areas.
The Prime Minister said there was acute poverty in the country and the biggest way to do away with it was to spread awareness about education.
Praising the group of students, he said "I know that you have come through some difficult situations. There is turbulence in your districts due to Naxalism but still you did not lose courage and focused on your education."
The Prime Minister said India was a powerful country and there was scope for every section here to grow and the most important thing was that maximum facilities should be provided for poor children to grow.
He urged the children to make the best use of facilities provided to them by the government.
