Officers need to go to the field more often: Kiran Bedi

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 22

Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry Kiran Bedi speaking at an event in Panjab University expressed displeasure with the current crop of officers in the country. Stressing on being on the field, she said, “All are leaders, not public servants”. She added that officers need to go in public instead of sitting in their cozy offices.

Bedi was the chief guest and speaker at the JC Anand memorial lecture where she also inaugurated the newly commenced leadership and governance courses. Stressing that leadership has to start early, she said: “We need to make missionaries who serve and not just lead.” She added that officers have enough theoretical knowledge but they need to go in field more often.

Bedi said the courses should be aimed at ‘creating and recreating present and future leaders’ instead of educating them alone. 

Bedi asks VC to include her in faculty

During her address, Bedi asked the Vice-Chancellor to include her in the faculty for the course and said that she would take the students on the field instead of teaching them theory. She said the suggestion to start the course was a casual one and thanked the VC for implementing it.

The first lady IPS officer of India began her speech by expressing gratitude to and remembering her former teacher Prof J C Anand. She said her priority at the event was Anand, whom she adored. “He ignited the thirst to know more and sowed the seeds of leadership,” she added.

She also thanked Prof Balram Gupta who taught her law. Bedi visited her every Saturday via a train as she was also teaching at the time. A national tennis player, Bedi said she asked her teachers what to read while travelling and thus covered up the syllabus which she missed.

Anand’s daughter Urvashi Gulati, a 1975 batch IAS officer, speaking at the event said Bedi was a “leader even as a teenager”.

Novel ideas to achieve women and child safety

Bedi came up with novel ideas to achieve ‘swachhta’ and woman and child safety. She suggested that all officers of municipal corporations, deputy commissioners and the senior superintendents of police must cycle in the city every Saturday and clean their institutions.

She asked girls to take to streets on bikes and thus dare eve teasers. This would help tackle stalking and other issues. She suggested that education officers visit three schools every day which will ensure safety of children in schools.