Taking a cue from IIM-Ahmedabad, some private management institutes in towns of western UP have decided to study the methods of Railway Minister Lalu Prasad that put the world's largest railway network on the track of profit.
Some 50 management institutes have mushroomed in the western Uttar Pradesh of Ghaziabad, Muradnagar, Modinagar, Meerut, Hapur, Loni and Sahibadad and most of them are keen to take up Prasad's success story as a case study.
"Lalu Prasad has become a subject of study in management as he increased the profit of the Railways without putting a burden on the common man," Ghaziabad Institute of Management Education (IME) chairman Hari Prasad said.
He "did not touch the expenditure side of the Railways and neither did he increase fares, but maintained profits", Sahibabad Post-Graduate College principal and advisor to the Institute of Management Technology (IMT) Sanjay Kaushik said.
Management students should know about the skills used by Prasad for increasing profits, Sudha Singh, chairperson of Unique Institute of Management in Muradnagar said.
After being a loss-making organisation, the Railways was turned around by Prasad and generated Rs 13,000 crore worth internal resources as also surplus revenue of Rs 11,000 crore during his tenure.
{{/usCountry}}After being a loss-making organisation, the Railways was turned around by Prasad and generated Rs 13,000 crore worth internal resources as also surplus revenue of Rs 11,000 crore during his tenure.
{{/usCountry}}His tenure saw the introduction of 'kulhads' instead of plastic cups at railway stations, khadi linen on trains and he maintained passenger fares by keeping costs down.