And now, 'Lalu Express' trundles into Singapore

New Delhi, Apr 29: Mr Lalu Prasad, the showstopper of Indian political world whose rustic management skills have transformed the railways and greatly impressed the dons and students of top-grade business schools the world over, will now be going to Singapore to divulge his success mantra at the reputed INSEAD business school.

After having a series of sessions with the high-brow faculty and aspiring business brains of renowned B-schools like Harvard, Wharton, IIM-A and HEC, Paris, Mr Prasad will be in Singapore on May 12 to have an interface with around 350 MBA students at the Institute d' Administration des Affaires (INSEAD) Asia campus and give them an insight into 'Lalunomics'.The high-profile Railway Minister, during his visit to INSEAD that ranks among the world's top ten business schools, will be delivering a lecture on the transformation of Indian Railways, which was teetering on the brink of bankruptcy six years ago.

Mr Prasad will be delivering his lecture in Hindi and it will be translated in English with the help of translators. The Minister may chip in with English during question-answer session.

A senior Ministry official told UNI that the icing on the cake for Mr Prasad would be a visit to Malaysia on May 15 where IRCON had recently bagged a Rs 4000 crore high-speed corridor project in the face of tough international competition.

Under the deal signed with Malaysian KTMB Railway, IRCON will construct a high-speed corridor between Sanbam and Gamas, which would facilitate trains cruising at a speed of 250 km per hour.

"The deal is to be formally signed on May 15 in the presence of Mr Prasad,'' the official said.

Giving details the Railway Minister's visit to Malaysia, he said it was in response to an invitation from INSEAD's Global Dean Frank Brown and Asia Campus head Narayan Pant. The schedule for Mr Prasad's visit was firmed up after Mr Pant visited Rail Bhavan here yesterday.

Mr Brown and Mr Pant had also visited India last year as head of an INSEAD delegation for an interaction with the Railway Minister.

The official pointed out that Indian Railways had entered into a five-year contract with INSEAD, under which the Malaysian business school was providing training to its senior officers on customer strategies with macro-plan perspectives.

For Mr Prasad, this will be his first lecture abroad during which he is to dwell at length on the spectacular turnaround of Indian Railways, how he gave financial muscle to the government's biggest department without retrenching a single employee or effecting any hike in passenger fares for the last four years.

Impressed by his earthy management skills which have left the high-profile management gurus scratching their brains, Mr Prasad has been invited by the World Bank, Japan and South Korea to narrate his experiences as India's Railway Minister.

The invitation from the World Bank has been pending since long.

In fact, Mr Prasad was scheduled to deliver a lecture at the Bank's headquarters in Washington last year, but it could not materialise because of the Parliament session.

The Minister has also been invited by the HEC School of Management, Paris. He is also to address American and Bangladeshi bureaucrats in Washington and Dhaka respectively, the modalities of which are being worked out.

Last year, Mr Prasad had visited a number of European countries, including France, Italy and England, to get a first-hand experience of the working of their railway systems.

UNI