Guwahati: Kiran Bedi the first woman to join the Indian Police Service was born on 9 June 1949 and today she is celebrating her 72nd birthday.
Kiran Bedi is an Indian politician, social activist, retired police officer and tennis player who was also the 24th Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry from 28 May 2016 to 16 February 2021.
She is the first Indian female to become an officer in the Indian Police Service and started her service in 1972. She remained in service for 35 years before taking voluntary retirement in 2007 as Director-General, Bureau of Police Research and Development.
So on her birthday, let’s know about her journey and achievements
Kiran Bedi was born in Amritsar in a well-to-do Punjabi business family.
Bedi’s upbringing was not very religious but she was brought up in both Hindu and Sikh traditions. She was educated in a Christian school- Sacred Heart Convent.
Bedi participated in National Cadet Corps (NCC) among other extra-curricular activities. During her schooling days, Sacred Heart did not offer science, instead, it had a subject called “household” which was aimed at grooming girls into good housewives.
When she was in class 9, Bedi joined Cambridge College, a private institute that offered science education and prepared her for the matriculation exam.
Inspired by her father, Bedi started playing tennis at the tender age of nine. As a young woman, she frequented the Service Club in Amritsar, where interaction with civil servants inspired her to take up a public service career. Her first posting was to the Chanakyapuri subdivision of Delhi in 1975.
She started her career as an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) in Delhi’s Chanakyapuri area, and won the President’s Police Medal in 1979. Thereafter, she moved to West Delhi, where she tried to eradicate crimes against women. Thereafter, as a traffic police officer, she inspected the traffic arrangements for the Asian Games in Delhi in 1982 and the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Goa in 1983. As Deputy Commissioner of Police, North Delhi, he launched a campaign against drug abuse, which evolved into the Navjyoti Delhi Police Foundation (renaming the Navjyoti India Foundation in 2007).
In May 1993, Bedi was posted as Inspector General (IG) in Delhi Jail. She made several reforms in Tihar Jail, which received worldwide acclaim and won the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1994.
In 2003, Bedi became the first Indian and first woman to be appointed as the head of the UN Police and Policy Advisor at the United Nations.
She resigned in 2007 to focus on social activism and writing. She has written many books and runs the India Vision Foundation. During 2008-11, he hosted a court show Aap Ki Kachhari.
She was one of the prominent leaders of the 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in January 2015.
Bedi took oath as the Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry on 29 May 2016 and broke convention by addressing the gathering at the path ceremony.
Kiran met her future husband Brij Bedi on the tennis courts of Amritsar. Brij, who was nine years older than her, played university-level tennis at the time. On 9 March 1972, the two married at a simple ceremony at the local Shivalaya temple. Together they have a daughter named Sukriti. The two have lived separately for most of their married life.
