Kolkata: First it was the Manipal University and the prestigious Delhi University, now ICICI Bank is holding talks with the Government of West-Bengal to start a Banking and Insurance course in the University of Calcutta. ICICI Bank is talking to the West Bengal government to involve with the University of Calcutta for starting a banking and insurance course.

As a further step towards ICICI's "Industry-Academia Partnership", which includes partnerships with various leading Universities across India, to provide the banking industry specific courses, the bank has decided to offer a specialized one year course on banking and insurance.

The extreme shortage of skilled people in the field has prompted ICICI bank to take such initiatives. This move will also promote banking awareness among youth, besides training a pool of talent, which will maintain the necessary manpower supply for the bank's operations. Manipal University and Delhi University are two other institutions, which have already accepted the bank's proposal for such courses.

Manipal University has 1200 students on its rolls for a one year program and the graduates will be appointed in the bank as Assistant Managers. The Delhi University (DU) will offer a 3-month course 'Foundation in Banking' at its Commerce Department in partnership with ICICI Bank.

As a part of the corporate social responsibility, RBI and Disha, the NGO front of the ICICI Bank had launched a comic titled 'Raju and the Money Tree' to spread banking awareness among kids in a fun and easy to learn way. Another such effort 'Money Kumar and the Monetary Policy' was also launched by RBI recently. This comic presents the intricacies of monetary policy to the kids in a very interesting and interactive way.