Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Well done!

Railway Minister Lalu Prasad deserves the praise showered on him in the editorial "Basking in the glory, deservedly" (Sept. 20). He is the only politician to be invited by the Indian Institute of Management to lecture on the management nuances adopted by him in transforming the Railways from a loss-making venture to a profit-making organisation. He has silenced his critics by turning around the fortunes of a giant undertaking in just two years without affecting the consumer.

R.M. Manoharan,
Chennai

* * *

The editorial rightly congratulates Mr. Prasad for the wholesale transformation of the Railways, while acknowledging the good work done by his predecessor. But it is strange to find a leader, under whose governance Bihar earned the tag of being one of the worst governed States, being projected as a management guru. If he is indeed a management wizard, why did he not transform Bihar into a world class State during RJD rule?

A.V.A. Eswaran,
Jaipur

* * *

The media's enchantment with Lalu Prasad, after he was invited by the IIM-A, is amusing. Here is a man who was hardly taken seriously until a few months ago. Suddenly, the media have found superlative terms to describe his rustic charm. It is preposterous to say that a man who ruled his native State of Bihar for 14 years and brought it to the verge of financial bankruptcy made the Railways a profitable organisation by his managerial skills. The management guys may believe in simplistic assumptions and naïve conclusions. But the people will not.

Vijay Mohan Swaraj,
Chennai

* * *

The success story of the Railways scripted by Lalu & Co. refutes the self-serving and consciously cultivated notion of the bureaucracy that vastness and complexity restrict efficiency. It is time other PSUs learnt a lesson or two from the Railways on exploring new ways of making themselves competent rather than finding excuses to justify their incompetence.

Sajjan Singh,
Jaipur

* * *

Overnight, Mr. Prasad has become a management guru. No doubt he deserves credit for turning the Railways around. But the success of such a big monolith should be attributed to the efforts of the entire railways staff. How does one explain the mismanagement of Bihar during the reign of Mr. Prasad & Co.?

V.J. Lawrence,
Bangalore

* * *

As the helmsman, Mr. Prasad has presided over the transformation of the gigantic public sector enterprise. But the people also expect him to improve the conditions on trains. In the absence of basic amenities, travel becomes arduous especially on long-distance trains.

Prabha Muthukrishnan,
Bangalore

* * *

Derided and chided for many of his goof-ups, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad's career seems to have turned at least half a circle. Film director Mahesh Manjrekar jokingly made him a `Padmashree.' Now the IIM-A has made a professor out of him.

Ganapathi Bhat,
Akola, Maharashtra

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