Tuesday, November 15 2005 16:38 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Going down the memory lane when he faced hard times, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today (Nov 15, 2005) said till the age of ten, he had never seen electricity and had studied under a lantern.

"Till the age of ten, I had never seen electricity. I studied in a village, in a modest home, using a lantern. My eyesight was affected for life as a result," he recalled while addressing the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit on 'Building a Better Future' here.

The Prime Minister said he had to walk quite a distance to reach school. "But education empowered me. I am what I am because my family invested in my education".

Earning scholarships, Singh said this had given him access to the best in education.

"I have seen India transformed in my life time, but I know there still are villages like the one I grew up in. There are still young boys and girls who study next to a lantern," he said.

Singh expressed confidence that their life would be better than that of their parents.

"Their future will be brighter. But there is a lot of hard work we must all do to speed up the process by which this can happen," he stressed.

Admitting that a great majority of the people were entitled to a far better future than at present, he however, noted that considerable amount of progress has been achieved 'within our lifetime. My own life mirrors the progress we have made'.