The Hindu : National : I had to drive home a point: Kiran Bedi

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Thursday, Dec 27, 2007
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I had to drive home a point: Kiran Bedi

Ashok Kumar

Centre accepts the first woman IPS officer’s plea for voluntary retirement

— Photo: PTI/ Kamal Singh

remarkable innings: Kiran Bedi speaks to the media in New Delhi on Wednesday after her VRS plea was accepted by the Union Government.

NEW DELHI: Hours after the Centre’s decision to accept her plea for voluntary retirement was made public on Wednesday, the country’s first woman IPS officer Kiran Bedi said the premature end of her 35-year career was necessary to drive home a point.

“It has been a life worth living. It has been a profession of my soul and heart. And truly, the end it has met [with] was not imagined. But this was what the situation had demanded and it was necessary to drive home a point,” said Dr. Bedi, without trying to hide her emotions.

Ms. Bedi, who had been ignored for the post of Delhi Police Commissioner earlier this year, said: “You cannot be valued in one position and devalued in another. If the government is really serious about reforms, then why deny me the place from where I can effect them. What is the point in doing paper reforms when there is no dearth of such recommendations lying unimplemented?”

The Magsaysay awardee submitted her application for voluntary retirement in mid-November, saying she wanted to pursue her academic and social interests. The government indicated last week that it would continue to avail itself of the services of Dr. Bedi for its National Police Mission project. But she rejected the offer saying she was not willing to work for the government anymore.

She said she was grateful to the government for not delaying approval to her voluntary retirement plea. She would continue to work on police and prison reforms besides following other academic and social interests. “I am already working on women empowerment in Panchayati Raj and will continue to work to groom future leaders.”

Looking back at her three-decade-long career, Dr. Bedi said: “I started alone, but today when I am laying down office, we have more than 200 women IPS officers and several women battalions and companies serving the country. The scintillating performance of women personnel in the Central Reserve Police Force as United Nations peacekeepers is doing us all proud. Even the government wants more woman IPS officers. It is great where we stand today. It has been an exceedingly and overwhelmingly fulfilling journey.”

Enumerating her achievements as head of the Tihar Central Jail here, Dr. Bedi said prison reforms introduced during her tenure was appreciated around the world and some of the programmes were even adopted outside India. “ ‘Doing Time, Doing Vipassana,’ the film that describes the way Vipassana was used to change the behaviour of the inmates, won acclaim around the world.”

Dr. Bedi, who earned the sobriquet “Crane Bedi” for her firmness in dealing with traffic violations in the Capital, has won a number of awards, including the President’s Gallantry Award. She also had the honour of serving at the United Nations as Police Adviser.

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