Kiran Bedi (born 9 June 1949) is an Indian politician, retired Indian Police Service (IPS) Officer, social activist and former tennis player, who was the 24th Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry from 28 May 2016 to 16 February 2021. She was the first female IPS officer and started her service in 1972.
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She remained in service for 35 years before taking voluntary retirement in 2007 as Director General, Bureau of Police Research and Development.
As a teenager, Bedi was crowned the national junior tennis champion in 1966. Between 1965 and 1978, she won several titles at various national and state-level championships. After joining the IPS, Bedi served in Delhi, Goa, Chandigarh and Mizoram. She started her career as an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) in the Chanakyapuri area of Delhi, and won the President's Police Medal in 1979.
Next she moved to West Delhi, where she brought about a reduction in crimes against women subsequently, as a traffic police officer, she oversaw traffic arrangements for the1982 Asian Games in Delhi and the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 1983in Goa. As Deputy Commissioner of Police of North Delhi, she launched acampaign against drug abuse, which evolved into the Navjyoti Delhi Police Foundation (renamedto Navjyoti India Foundation in 2007
In May 1993, Bedi was posted to the Delhi Prisons as Inspector General (IG). She introduced several reforms at Tihar Jail, which gained worldwide acclaim and won her the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1994. In 2003, Bedi became the first Indian and first woman to be appointed as head of the United Nations Police and Police Advisor in the United Nations Department of Peace Operations.
She resigned in 2007, to focus on social activism and writing. She has written several books, and runs the India Vision Foundation. During 2008–11, she hosted a court show Aap Ki Kachehri. She was one of the key leaders of the 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement, and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in January 2015. She unsuccessfully contested the 2015 Delhi Assembly election as the party's Chief Ministerial candidate.
Early life and education
Kiran Bedi was born in Amritsar, Punjab on June 9, 1949 to Prakash Lal Peshawaria and Prem Lata Peshawaria. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts in English (Hons) from Amritsar's Government College for Women in 1968. She completed her Masters in Political Science in 1970 and was a topper in her class. In 1972, Kiran Bedi married Brij Bedi and has a daughter with him.
She earned her degree in law frKiran Bedi did not start her career as a cop, but as a lecturer of Political Science at the Khalsa College for Women in Amritsar in 1970. After two years of her teaching career, she cleared the Civil Services examination and became an IPS officer. This made her the first woman in India to join the services.
Professional career of kiran bedi
During her career in Indian Police Service, she served as the chief of New Delhi Traffic Police, DIG of Police in Mizoram, Advisor to the Lt. Governor of Chandigarh, Director General of Narcotics Control Bureau, and Civilian Police Advisor for United Nations Peacekeeping operations. She was honoured with the United Nations Medal for her work.
Kiran Bedi introduced a number of reforms in the management of Tihar Jail, Delhi when she was the Inspector General of Prisons during the years 1993-1995. The various programmes introduced by her under this mission witnessed positive changes in the lives of prisoners. This short stint of her is remembered as a golden period in the history of the prison and won her the Ramon Magsaysay Award for 1994 and the Jawahar Lal Nehru Fellowship.
The last position that Kiran Bedi held in the IPS was that of the Director General of India's Bureau of Police Research & Development. She was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Law in acknowledgment of her "humanitarian approach to prison reforms and policing" in May 2005.
Two years later, Kiran Bedi decided to voluntarily retire from the police services and the Government of India granted her permission to do so. On December 25, 2007, she retired to dedicate herself to social issues. om the Faculty of Law, University of Delhi in 1998 while in service as the Director General of Police. Subsequently, she went on to obtain a doctorate from the Department of Social Science at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi India.
Social Work
Activities Done By Kiran Bedi In 1987, Kiran Bedi launched an NGO named Navjyoti India Foundation (NIF). This NGO aims at de-addiction and rehabilitation of the drug addicts and has expanded to other social issue like illiteracy and women empowerment. She also started India Vision Foundation in 1994 that has been working for police reforms, prison reforms, women empowerment and rural and community development. She was also the host of TV programme 'Aap Ki Kachehri' that aimed to resolve the family disputes of citizens.
In August 2011, Kiran Bedi joined the India Against Corruption movement led by social activist Anna Hazare. She was a prominent face of the movement along with Arvind Kejriwal but parted ways with him when the latter decided to establish a political party Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
