Kiran Bedi, born on June 9, 1949 in Amritsar, has set many firsts in the India story to bring in a change.
She is the first Indian woman to join the Indian Police Service (IPS) defying the set norms of the society and became the first officer to introduce prison reforms in India
Bedi was the second of four daughters who was given an equal opportunity for higher studies without any bias from her family members.
She pursued an undergraduate degree in English (1968), a masters’ degree in political science, a law degree and a PhD in social science (1993) while focussing on drug abuse and domestic violence.
She joined the IPS in year 1972 and served a variety of roles, including narcotics officer, antiterrorist specialist, and administrator.
She received laurels for the work she did as inspector general of prisons, beginning in 1994, reshaping one of the largest prisons in the world—the Tihar prison complex, in Delhi—by addressing the corruption and human right abuses she found there.
In 2003, Bedi became the first woman and the first Indian to be appointed United Nations civilian police adviser. She was the recipient of numerous awards in India and abroad and is also an accomplished tennis player who won several Asian championships.