She is strong…She is a woman! She is an Idol for millions of women across the country. She is the role model for women who dream to join the IPS. She is an idol for all those women who wish to bring a change in the society. She is Kiran Bedi!

India’s First Lady IPS Officer and now a social activist, Kiran Bedi is a woman we all look up to with pride and as an inspiration for our own life. But why do we idolize her? What are her achievements that make her an inspiration for millions?

Kiran Bedi – An inspiration

When we talk of women and the society, Kiran Bedi is one name that comes instantly into our minds. She is a normal human being like you and me, but what set her apart is her achievements in life. After finishing her B.A English honors, Kiran Bedi earned herself a Degree in Political Science from the Punjab University, Chandigarh.

She then joined the IPS and went ahead to earn a degree in LLB from the Delhi University and completed her Ph.D in Department of Social Sciences from the Indian Institute of Technology on the topic of Drug Abuse and Domestic Violence.

Kiran Bedi has served the country as the Honorable Traffic commissioner of New Delhi; Deputy Inspector General of Police, Mizoram; Advisor to the Liutenant Governor, Chandigarh; Director General of Narcotics Control Bureau and as the Inspector General of Tihar Jail.

Despite of being a woman, she has also established 2 organizations namely the Navjyoti (1988) and the India Vision Foundation (1994) for enhancing and supporting the lives of drug addicts and other underprivileged people of the society. During her service at the Tihar Jail, She introduced activities like meditation and literacy for the prisoners, thus giving them a chance to restart their lives with a new outlook for the society.

Her service to the society and country has been rewarded in the form of awards which include:-

• President’s Gallantry award – 1979

• Women of the Year – 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

As a social activist, she is fighting corruption in the country alongside Anna Hazare and several other social activists. It is due to these achievements of Kiran Bedi that she is considered an inspiration for women across the country.