New Delhi: With the rise of women joining politics, IIM Bangalore on Tuesday has launched an all-women certificate course in political leadership. The three months long programme called 'India-Women in leadership' by the center for public policy (CPP) aims at to groom these aspiring women politicians by helping them develop the necessary skills. The programme also aims at to equip aspiring women leaders with the practical skills, knowledge and expertise in various aspects of governance. The first batch starts on July 16, 2012.

The 10 weeks course has been structured in an interesting way by including theory lessons the IIM-B campus, field work in the candidate's constituencies, a week long stay in Delhi to witness the Parliament's monsoon session and a seven-day programme in Singapore to understand the public policies practiced in developed countries. Delhi-based Centre for Social Research (CSR), an NGO working on gender empowerment, is also an active partner in designing the course.

Rajeev Gowda, Chairperson, Center for Public Policies (CPP), IIM-B, said that any good politician needs a basic skills set, which includes policy expertise, perspective, personal effectiveness and of course political skills. He further added that they have come up with a curriculum where the candidates will get a chance to learn about the theory of politics, campaigns and elections, economics of governance, working with the media, ideologies and gender issues.

The course at present however fails take into account women who do not know English, but are otherwise ideal for the course. Ranjana Kumari, Director, Center for Social Research, said that they are aware of the shortcoming of the course and are trying their best to make the course accessible to more people. He further added that initially the course will be available in English, but they will soon translate the material in Hindi and other regional languages before putting it online.