Lalu shares wisdom with Harward, Wharton pupils

Hemendra Singh Bartwal

New Delhi, December 27, 2006


http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1881777,0008.htm" target="_blank">http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1881777,0008.htm



'Professor' Lalu Yadav's favourite mantra - "if you do not milk the cow fully, it falls sick" - to explain his success in turning around the loss-making Indian Railways once again charmed an audience of management students, this time from the famed Harvard and Wharton business schools of US.

But it did not appear to have impressed some of them enough to refrain from popping up inconvenient questions like what went wrong with the management of Bihar during his party's long rule in the state. Perhaps this was one cow that had been "milked" too thoroughly may well have been the unspoken question in their minds.

The railway minister was probably taken aback when Kunal Singh, a Harvard student from Patna, put up the question that he is normally asked by mediapersons.

Why couldn't Lalu turn around Bihar during the 15-year RJD rule when he could succeed in reversing the flagging fortune of Indian Railways in 30 months, the youngster wanted to know.

The minister told him that Bihar was faced with too many problems like perennial floods, Naxalite menace and low per capita income that had no easy solutions. The state needed a big boost from outside. But with Railways it was different as it had a tremendous potential and was like a sprawling empire, he stated.

Speaking in Hindi, which was translated, he told them how he had discarded the western theory of management which said that loss-making enterprises should be privatised and their employees given the golden handshake. The turnaround strategy was based on the principles of achieving higher volumes, low units cost, reduced tariff and improved market share.

Another student, a foreigner, asked him if his model for Railways' success was sustainable and would last even after his exit from the ministry. Lalu explained that the roadmap for the organisation's future had been drawn up and "a stamp had been put on it". This would continue to be followed in times to come, he felt.

A student from Pakistan, where Lalu is a popular figure, wanted to know when he was likely to become the prime minister of India. "I told him that I have kept the plan pending. What's the hurry? I'm still young, even though all my hair has turned grey. The fruit will ripen when the time comes," he later told mediapersons.

The 137 management students - 100 from Harvard and the rest from Wharton - of which nearly 30 were from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, appeared to have found the Railway Minister's hour-long presentation enlightening. Stacy, a female student from Harvard, said it was interesting to learn how a public sector undertaking was functioning with private sector values and the manner in which its employees were being motivated.

The railway minister had earlier delivered similar presentations to Indian Institute of Management (IIM) students in Ahmedabad and Bangalore.

The lecture session on Wednesday was held at the Rail Museum where the visiting students were taken around to have a glimpse of the steam locomotives and luxury saloons that were used in different parts of India during the British era.

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