Bengaluru: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today lauded children from Karnataka who wrote letters to him, saying it showed they are conversant with problems confronting the nation.

Modi’s praise came in his monthly radio programme ‘Mann ki Baat’, wherein he referred to letters written by three children from the state and published in a newspaper.

“I read those letters and liked the initiative. Even these little children are conversant with problems confronting the nation, aware of the deliberations going on in the country,” he said.

The prime minister said Kirti Hegde from North Kannada appreciated the Digital India and Smart City schemes. She suggested imparting knowledge on nature to children, which may prove useful in protecting the environment.

“She put forth a suggestion that we need to transform our education system and said the present day children do not like classroom reading, they love to know more about nature,” he added.

“And if we impart knowledge about nature to our children then in the future, they may prove very useful in protecting the environment,” she said.

Another letter by one Reeda Nadaf from Laxmeshwar in Gadag district said she is the daughter of an Army man and feels proud of being so.

“Which Indian would not be proud of our soldiers? And, you being a soldier’s daughter should naturally take pride in that,” he said.

The prime minister said Irfana Begum from Kalburgi had written that her school is 5 km away from her village and that she has to start early in the morning and it gets quite late in the evening when she returns home.

“She says that as such she does not find time to spend with her friends and has suggested that there should be a school nearby,” he said.

The children’s letters to Modi were part of an initiative by the newspaper ‘Vijaya Karnataka.