Dr Kiran Bedi was India's first female officer of the Indian Police Service. Born to parents who didn't cling to the old ways, Bedi had advantages not available to the average Indian woman. She won the Junior National Lawn Tennis Championship in 1966, the Asian Lawn Tennis Championship in 1972, All-India Interstate Women's Lawn Tennis Championship in 1976, and won medals at the 1976 Women's Festival Sports conducted in Delhi.
In July 1972 she joined the Indian Police Service. In 1994 she was promoted to the rank of Inspector General of Prisons and given the responsibility of managing the largest and most notorious prison in India at Tihar. Bedi introduced many reforms in the prison.
Dr Kiran Bedi was honored with the Police Medal for Bravery, Asia Region Award for Work in Prevention of Drug Abuse, Ramon Magsaysay Award, and the Swiss-German Joseph Beuys Award for Holistic and Innovative Management.
