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Govt cop-out on Bedi: Unfair deal for 'fair sex'?
Published on Fri, Jul 27, 2007 at 08:03, Updated on Fri, Jul 27, 2007 at 10:15 in India section
Tags: Face The Nation, Kiran Bedi
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Women empowerment - the agenda endorsed and publicised as the key reason behind Pratibha Patil's appointment as India's first woman president - lost all merit when it came to giving India's first woman IPS officer the post of the police commissioner.
Kiran Bedi, the Director General of Bureau of Police Research and Development told CNN-IBN that the appointment of Dadwal, her junior, sends out a wrong message, indicating gender bias was behind her being denied the post.
Many believe the incident in an apt reflection of India’s patriarchal society, indicating only certain “type” of women can rise in corridors of power.
Hence a demure, non-threatening figurehead Pratibha Patil - who keeps her head covered with her sari pallu - makes an ideal President for UPA, while the short-haired, no-nonsense cop Kiran Bedi - who matches her male counterparts talent-for-talent - is seen a misfit for another top position.
Former Chief Election Commissioner, T S Krishnamurthy; India's High Commissioner to Bangladesh Veena Sikri and Kiran Bedi debated if India’s power circuit was patriarchal on CNN-IBN show Face the Nation conducted by Sagarika Ghose.
No woman, no try?
The outrage over Bedi not being appointed as the Delhi police chief is rooted in the merit argument. While Bedi alleges gender discrimination, sources in the Home Ministry say that it was her non-involvement in active policing that has acted as a deterrent.
However, Krishnamurthy blamed the antiquated, backward looking bureaucracy.
"All I can say is that there is a serious need to reframe and re-organise police administration," he said.
Defying claims that a woman is denied important posts for constraints like maternity and family obligations, Krishnamurthy said, "I don't think there are any constraints. Every woman is capable of doing as much a man's job. But the government appointments are made on various considerations, some of them may not be justifiable while some may be. This applies to all the services."
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URBANEYE
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I am a retired IPS Officer. Three questions not raised/answered by the media are :1. Is the post of Director,
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She has always left her postings under circumstances which would have attracted extreme disciplinary action had Bedi not been a
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By maikng a woman as President of India, 'Women Empowerment' can not be achieved as proclaimed by Congress and their
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In both cases our few dirty policticians and bureaucrats has palyed their games, when it comes to president they need
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This is very unfortunate what has happened with Mrs. Bedi and the most unfortunate thing is the excuse "The System",
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