Kiran Bedi: Women security, sanitation top issues, my energy is for positivity

A member of the India Against Corruption movement of Anna Hazare in 2011 when she and Kejriwal shared the same platform, Bedi
believes corruption is no longer the top issue in the run-up to the Delhi assembly elections.

“Women security is first and sanitation is second. These two issues are emerging these days. The third issue of civic amenities is important. Corruption and price rise are way down. Corruption is down to seventh (position). Women’s security stands out clearly.”

“I have been talking and writing about a six Ps formula. The first P is people — parents, principals and community leaders, preachers. People are vital for a holistic approach to security. The second P is politician. Because the politician gives you rules, regulations, resources and laws. If you notice, the law came so late after the December 16 gangrape case. Politicians pass laws.”

“The third P is police, the police response and prevention. Police have two roles — community policing is prevention and investigation and forensic is the response. They need to be in place in the system. The fourth P is prosecution. Fast-track the cases. It has a bearing on so many things.”

“The fifth P is prison. Many rapists are released from prison as in the Shakti Mills case (of Mumbai). What does the prison do while rapists are there? A prison plays a vital role. The sixth P, the last and most important, is the press. How does a press communicate?”
“The six Ps are like a hub. And what is the hub? It is the CM’s Office, chief secretary’s office or could be the L-G’s office. This hub has to meet regularly with a strategy and a plan. Parents, principals need to have a plan. There is need for alignment. We need to work in alignment. The crux is the people.”

“I trained young people in civil defence, they are all lost now. They come to me. I will recall them, retrain them, redeploy them. They will all wear yellow shirts and will be all over the city. It means if Delhi Police is one lakh, you may have a citizen police of 50,000. Every volunteer gets an honorarium per day. Students will be able to earn. It will be directly under the Delhi government and Chief Minister’s Office. That means you don’t need to say I don’t have police. You say, I have citizen police.”

“I work wholesale. I am not a part worker. I have a comprehensive, wholesale approach towards everything. For me, government is an organic whole. A defective toe does not leave the body healthy. I am a very organic observer and I deliver organically. For me, everything is important, from the top most to the simple person sleeping on the street. That is the approach. You people haven’t seen me policing. Those were not TV times. I was in a police station at 8 every morning.”

She said the “party together” will meet the AAP challenge. “The kind of leadership Amit Shah is providing… I am absolutely thrilled to see his organizational skills. He is an extremely thorough man. The team takes the party ahead.”

Asked what she thought of BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj’s remark that Hindu women should give birth to four children, Bedi said “the party has served him notice”. On the RSS ‘ghar wapsi’ reconversion campaign, she said: “They have been asking for a law to ban conversions. Let Parliament decide. There can be no forced conversion. I have served in Mizoram and I saw many conversions. I did not get a single case of forced conversion. Have a law against it. There is no ban on going back. Neither a ban on conversion nor a ban on return.”