Dr.Kiran Bedi., IPS

Dr.Kiran Bedi., IPS

Kiran Bedi was born on June 9, 1949. Her father Prakash Lal Peshawaria, a landlord in Punjab was determined to educate his four daughters at a time when women were largely limited to doing household tasks.

While studying at the Sacred Heart Convent, Kiran joined the National Cadet Corps (NCC) and took up tennis, a game which her father used to play.
After school she went on to study Political Science at the Government College for Women, Amritsar. She loved the subject as she felt it taught her about her role as a citizen of the country.

Kiran excelled at sports particularly tennis. She won the inter-University women's team title and bagged the national title as well as the Asian title in tennis. Bedi says the game taught her the value of hard work, the importance of staying fit and built in her the qualities of fair play, team work, concentration, and the ability to give in that extra bit under stress.

Kiran fell in love with Brij Bedi a fellow student and married him in 1972. This was also the year when Kiran was selected for the Indian Police Service (IPS).

Kiran Bedi is truly an icon of heroism. She was the first Indian woman to join the Indian Police Services. She is one of the most renowned police officers, who have put in their whole hearted effort in serving the society. Well, in this article, we will present you with the biography of Kiran Bedi, who is the pride of our Indian police force.In the recent times, she has been appointed as the Director General of India's Bureau of Police Research and Development. Earlier, she served as the Police Advisor in the United Nations peacekeeping department. For her noteworthy performance, she was awarded with the UN medal. In the year 2005, she received the honorary degree of Doctor of Law. To know the complete life history of Kiran Bedi, read on…EducationShe received her Masters degree in Political Science from Punjab University, Chandigarh. She continued her studies, even when she joined the Indian Police force. In the year 1988, she obtained a degree in Law (LLB) from Delhi University. In the year 1993, the Department of Social Sciences, the Indian Institute of Technology in New Delhi awarded her with a Ph.D. degree. Her topic of research was Drug Abuse and Domestic Violence. Kiran Bedi has won the championship of all-India and all-Asian tennis competition. When she was 22 years old, she won the Asian Ladies Title.CareerHer career started in the year 1970, when she took the job of a lecturer at Khalsa College for Women in Amritsar. Two years later, she joined the Indian Police Services. All the way through her career, she has taken up a number of challenging assignments. She has served as the Traffic Commissioner of New Delhi, Deputy Inspector General of Police in the insurgency prone area of Mizoram.She has also been the Lieutenant Governor of Chandigarh and Director General of Narcotics Control Bureau. An interesting thing about Kiran Bedi is that, sometimes, she is referred to as Crane Bedi. The reason behind calling her by this name is that, she dragged the car of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi due to violation of parking rules. Kiran Bedi made the Indian Police Service change its decision in matters related to traffic management, control over narcotics and VIP security. During her tenure as the Inspector General of Tihar Jail, she brought about several reforms in the way the prisons are managed. She brought forth a number of measures like yoga, meditation, redressal of complaints made by the prisoners etc.Kiran Bedi laid the foundation for the establishment of two voluntary organizations, namely, Navajyoti (1988) & India Vision Foundation (1994). These organizations were primarily set up with the aim of improving the living conditions of the drug addicts and the underprivileged people. The effort of Kiran Bedi has paid and brought her worldwide recognition. Her works have always earned appreciation. For drug abuse prevention, her organization was presented with the Serge Soitiroff Memorial Award by the United Nations.


AwardsFor her outstanding work, Kiran Bedi has received a number of accolades like:
President's Gallantry Award (1979)
Women of the Year Award (1980)
Asia Region Award for Drug Prevention and Control (1991)
Magsaysay Award for Government Service (1994)
Mahila Shiromani Award (1995)
Father Machismo Humanitarian Award (1995)
Lion of the Year (1995)
Joseph Beuys Award (1997)
Pride of India (1999)
Mother Teresa Memorial National Award for Social Justice (2005)

Career Highlights
* In 1977, she put an end to the Akali-Nirankari Sikh riots at India Gate.
* 1979, as DCP (West Delhi), she broke up a 200-year-old illicit liquor trade.
* In 1981 as DCP (Traffic) she controlled traffic during the 1982 Asian Games efficiently. She didn't hesitate to tow away cars and once even challaned the Prime Minister's car for wrong parking near a car repair shop.
* In 1985, as DCP (headquarters) she ordered 1600 pending promotions to be made in a single day. Standing instructions were issued that if any file was not cleared within three days the person concerned would be called personally to explain the delay.
* In 1993, as the Inspector General of Asia's biggest jail - the Tihar jail (9100 inmates including 300 women) she turned the unlivable jail into an abode of education. Said Kiran while joining her posting at the jail, "I want to transform this jail into an Ashram within six months". She introduced many classes and programs for the inmates including those on basic education, meditation, yoga besides functions like mushairas, kavi sammelans, dramas and games, which involved the jail inmates. For her effort to humanize the Tihar jail she was honored with the 1994 Ramon Magsaysay Award.

Did you know?
Kiran Bedi was the first woman police officer of the Indian Police Service. Spectators at the 1973 Republic Day Parade were amazed to see a lady at the head of the Police Contingent. The then Prime Minister, Mrs. lndira Gandhi was so impressed that she invited Kiran for breakfast with her the very next day.