As a part of their mandatory 18 month training program, railway employees get to spend three crucial months studying at the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta. This could be yet another example of blurring of lines between public sector service and management.

Premier management Institute, IIM Calcutta has been commissioned by the Railway Board of India to conduct a 12-week Executive General Management Programme for 60 Officers. This is a part of the regular 18 month training program for Indian Railway Service Probationer Officers. The programme covers regular management topics like economics, human resource, Management Information Systems, Public Policy, Behavioural Sciences, Operations Management, Marketing, Ethics, Finance and Accounting and Strategic Management.  

B Nag, Programme Director said, "The objective of this course is to give railway officers a management perspective on everything especially on how to manage such a huge organization like the railways...at IIM-C, we are able to provide excellent management training which is not possible for PSUs to impart...After the course is over, students outlook will change."

The initiative is taken by the Railway Board of India to upgrade the skill level of its employees and professionalize the entire management system of the Railway Board. The students comprise of employees in various departments of the railway board. 

Shikha, student said, “This course at IIM will enhance our managerial skills."

Anubhav, student said, " I am learning supply-chain-management, it will teach me the nitty-gritties of how things actually happen in the real world."
The students hope to take away as much as they can from the twelve weeks they are spending on the campus of the IIM, some even feel that this is the best part about their 18 month long mandatory training on the part of the Railway Board.