Kiran Bedi
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| Born: | June 9, 1949 Amritsar, Punjab |
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| Occupation: | IPS Officer |
| Children: | One Daughter, Saina Bedi |
Kiran Bedi is an Indian police officer and is the first woman to join the Indian Police Service (IPS) in 1972. She was born on 9th June 1949 in Amritsar, Punjab state, India, and is one of the most celebrated and widely known police officers who ever served the Indian Police Force. Kiran Bedi is the second of the four daughters of her parents, Prakash Lal Peshawaria and Prem Lata Peshawaria.
She has been recently appointed as Director General of India's Bureau of Police Research and Development. Earlier, she was Police Advisor in the United Nations peacekeeping department, and has also been honored with the UN medal for outstanding service. In May 2005, she was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Law In recognition of her “humanitarian approach to prison reforms and policing”.
[edit] Education
She completed her schooling from the Sacred Heart Convent School, Amritsar, and obtained her B.A. degree (1964-68) in English from the Government College for Women, Amritsar. She then earned a Master’s degree (1968-70) in Political Science from Panjab University, Chandigarh.
Even while in active service in the Indian Police, She continued her educational pursuits, and obtained a Law degree (LLB) in 1988 from Delhi University, Delhi. She was also awarded a Ph.D. in 1993 in Social Sciences by the Department of Social Sciences, the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi. The topic of her thesis was Drug Abuse and Domestic Violence.
Kiran Bedi is also a former all-India and all-Asian tennis champion, and had won the Asian Ladies Title at the age of 22.
[edit] Contributions
She began her career as a Lecturer in Political Science (1970-72) at Khalsa College for Women, Amritsar, India. In the year 1972, she was selected for the Indian Police Service. On her web site, she states that she joined the police service "because of my urge to be OUTSTANDING". [1]
Kiran Bedi influenced several decisions of the Indian Police Service, particularly in the areas of control over narcotics, traffic management, and VIP security. During her stint as the Inspector General of Prisons, Tihar Jail (Delhi), she instituted a number of reforms in the management the prison, and initiated a number of measures such as detoxification programs, yoga, vipassana meditation, and redressing of complaints by prisoners.
Navajyoti (which literally means New Enlightenment), set up in 1988, and India Vision Foundation, set up in 1994, are the two major voluntary organizations established by her with the objectives of improving the condition of the drug addicts and the poor people. Her efforts have won national and international recognition, and her organizations was awarded the Serge Soitiroff Memorial Award for drug abuse prevention by the United Nations.
[edit] Awards
Kiran Bedi has received a number of Awards, including the following:
- President’s Gallantry Award (1979)
- Women of the Year Award (1980)
- Asia Region Award for Drug Prevention and Control (1991)
- Magsaysay Award (1994) for Government Service
- 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)
