IIM-A study on Railways was not a sponsored one: Lalu

New Delhi, June 25 (UNI) Railway Minister Lalu Prasad today trashed the media report that a recent study on the turnaround of Indian Railways carried out by the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad, was sponsored by his Ministry, saying it was ''a slander completely devoid of facts.'' Visibly upset over the report published in a national daily, Mr Prasad said the Railways had earned a surplus of Rs 20,000 crore in the fiscal 2006-07.

''This is a fact that is on record. I cannot fudge the figures.

If I do so, Parliament can bring a privilege motion against me,'' the Minister said and dared the newspaper to substantiate its charge against him.

The newspaper report had alleged that the ''critical appraisal'' by the IIM-A on the ''turnaround'' of Indian Railways, which sang peans to Mr Prasaad's ''astute understanding'' of market reality was paid for by the Railway Ministry.

The amount in question was Rs four lakh plus service tax as well as ''expenses of research assistance, computer usage and overheads at IIM-A''.

It further alleged that that IIM-A Professor G Raghuram was also provided ''rail travel (complimentary passes)/air travel, accommodation, local hospitality, data covering and analysis support''.

Mr Prasad said the media report was ''bereft of any sense of civility and targeted against a civilised person''.

He also pointed out that the Railways during the NDA rule was not even in a position to pay dividends to the government. ''In barely three years, I have extricated it from a financial morass and positioned it as a cash-surplus entity.'' A ministry official had earlier said the IIM-A study was not a sponsored one. ''We only paid the accommodation charges and travelling expenses of Prof Raghuram during his stay in Delhi. To say that the study was a sponsored one is a travesty of facts''.

UNI