"A unique example is the untiring and equally successful attempts of an indomitable Police officer Kiran Bedi in contemporary Indian History. It is very difficult to find words to praise this woman police officer, who made history in crime prevention and rehabilitation of criminals". She gave the loud message that "Policing has the power to correct, the power to do, and the power to get things done".

The web site "http://www.kiranbedi.com speaks about this Police Officer as under:

Kiran Bedi is a trailblazer, admired and loved by many in India. She broke new ground by joining the élite Indian Police Service in 1972, the first woman in India to do so. Her humane and fearless approach has contributed greatly to innumerable innovative policing and prison reforms.

She is today the most celebrated police officer, having been awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for government service, also called the Asian Nobel Prize, the Joseph Beuys Award by a German foundation and the Asia Region Award for Drug Prevention & Control by the International Organization of Good Templars (IOGT) a Norwegian organization.

Besides her professional contributions, two voluntary organizations founded and supervised by her - Navjyoti, set up in 1988 and India Vision Foundation in 1994, reach out to thousands of poor children daily for primary education; women for adult literacy; provide vocational training and counseling services in the slums, rural areas and inside the prison apart from treatment for drug addiction. She and her organizations today stand nationally and internationally recognized, with the latest award being given by the United Nations - the Serge Sotiroff Memorial Award for drug abuse prevention.

Born into an extraordinary family with visionary parents, Kiran is the second of four daughters. She has been an Asian Tennis Champion, holds a law degree, has a Doctorate in the field of drug abuse and domestic violence, is an author and subject of various books and films.

She is today a very sought after inspirational speaker in India and abroad.

We, at Value Web have the honour of presenting Kiran Bedi, a role model in many respects for womanhood, and a proud citizen of India.
(Source: http://www.kiranbedi.com)

Glowing tributes are paid about her very successful social projects of esteemed public consciousness and humanitarian service.

"Kiran has often said, policing is also social service from a position of power. Crime prevention has always been a priority in all her postings, and she, despite her demanding official work, has initiated a large amount of voluntary service in various fields of social development, which have a direct bearing on crime prevention and crime correction. She set up Navjyoti in 1986 for working in the field of drug abuse treatment and rehabilitation. Navjyoti has till now treated over 12,000 drug addicts. It is on special consultative status with Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. The program, run by a team of dedicated professionals and volunteers, has recently received the United Nations Serge Sotiroff Memorial award in 1999, chosen from over a hundred worldwide nominations. Navjyoti is a pioneer in India in its holistic treatment module.

After the receipt of the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1994 Kiran set up India Vision Foundation to work in the field of prison reforms, crime prevention, education, rural development, physical and mental disabilities, sports promotion etc. A great deal of work has been accomplished in the field of children's education through its projects. Children of prisoners are educated under the 'Crime Home Children' project and children in slums who are otherwise beggars, rag pickers, gamblers and drug peddlers have schools at their doorsteps in the 'Gali School' project, (gali = street in Hindi). The motive has been to Save the Next Victim, while rehabilitating the present one. In its 'Rural Development Project' the foundation organizes disability assessment and aid distribution camps for the benefit of residents of remote areas, inaccessible to many"
(Source: http://www.kiranbedi.com)

"Kiran is known to be and the highest ranking and the only woman to have headed a pre-dominantly male prison of the dimension of Tihar (over 9700 prisoners then). The Prison Administration took path-breaking steps during her tenure as the Inspector General of Prisons. She converted the high security prison into a "Reformatory", a transformation of a magnitude unparalleled in the history of Prison Administration anywhere in the world. Her courageous and holistic approach towards prison governance became a major factor in her earning the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service in the year 1994. The process of transformation of Tihar is documented in Kiran's book "It's Always Possible" which is accompanied by a CD ROM. Evidence shows that Kiran had introduced a "Godly approach to jail inmates" with the introduction of yoga, meditation and discourses by various sections of religious groups to inculcate spirituality and human values amongst the undertrials and convicts, men and women. The prison became an open school. The illiterate inmates were made literate and the literate were encouraged for higher studies. Indira Gandhi National Open University and National Open School set up their centers inside the prison. Along side various vocational training courses were introduced for the adolescents, men and women prisoners, both under trials and convicts for their rehabilitation in collaboration with the government and non-governmental agencies. Inmates having vocational knowledge were allowed for the first time to work for the local entrepreneurs, resulting in the inmates utilizing their prison time to keep in practice with their trade and be of help in the prison. The inmates earned wages through innovative activities and were in a position to contribute for their families outside while they were inside the prison. She made de-addiction facilities for addict prisoners very comprehensive. A bank was opened inside the prison, which facilitated the prisoners in banking their wages. Of the many other facilities ever introduced in any prison the following are worth mention :-

Mobile Canteens, Mobile Library, Art & Culture Groups, Computerized Enquiry, Sports Programmes, Prison Bulletins, Patient Prisoners care, Seminars by Prisoners, Festival Celebration (All religions & All National Days). It is obvious that in a prison as large as Tihar there was always a scope for legitimate complaints with regard to errant supervision, corrupt practices, diet quality, partisan attitude of subordinate staff towards less-powerful prisoners, medical facilities, complaints against police, matters pertaining to the courts, special family or personal needs and suggestions emerging out of participate management. In order to enable the prisoners voice their concerns and complaints, a revolutionary system of a "Mobile Petition Box" was introduced. Prisoners wrote their views and put it in the box, which was opened by a Petition Officer, directly under Kiran. Kiran monitored these letters closely and in necessary situations, passed on directions to her staff. Each complaint was acknowledged by a "Pink Card" by the I.G. herself irrespective of whether the complaint warranted any action or not. This helped both the prisoners as well as the Prison Administration iron out deficiencies and develop a mutual respect for each other's views and inculcate faith in each others action, resulting in eradication of corruption, drug & liquor peddling, and other evils from the Prison. It also gave an alternative system of feedback to the prison headquarters. "Panchayat System" - a unique system of internal self-management and prisoners participation was introduced in the prison. Few inmates were nominated by the prisoners themselves and were made responsible to coordinate and manage activities like education, mess cooking and distribution, internal discipline, library management, mobile canteen, sports activities, vocational training, prison bulletins, Yoga therapy and essential & Medical services, horticulture, Administrative assistance, festival celebration etc. Special attention was given to the women prisoners, nearly 300 in number, with approximately 40 children. Entrepreneurs were invited from the outside community who provided the women prisoners with job work. A 'Children's Crèche' was set up within the premises of the Women Prison for the overall development of the children living with their mothers. Innumerable Community support groups were got involved in supporting the reformatory activities in the prison hitherto never done. This provided much needed transparency and accountability to the prison administration. It swung public support for an institution, which was considered hitherto impenetrable and secret. However, the best gift Tihar got was Vipassana, an ancient form of meditation. In fact, a Vipassana course was organized in Tihar in which over 1000 inmates sat together for the first time anywhere in the world. Inspired by the experience, Tarsem Kumar, former superintendent of prison, scientifically researched, analyzed and documented the transformation in his book "Freedom Behind Bars". Vipassana worked wonders for the destructive and deviated mindsets of the prisoners and they confessed that they have become better humans. Vipassana Meditation has been successfully tried and is practiced in various prisons of India and abroad namely UK, USA, Taiwan and under consideration in various other places. It's been researched and the results are extremely encouraging. Two films, one Indian, "Doing time, Doing Vipassana" and an American "Changing from Inside" to be conducted in a correctional facility was held in November 1997 at the minimum security North Rehabilitation Facility (NRF) of the King County Jail in Seattle, Washington are shown all around world. Kiran's prison work has moved on and progressing not only in Tihar but impacted all over the country and even prisons abroad."