Satbir Bedi

Satbir Bedi was an Indian Administrative Service officer for 35 years. Highlights of her career include serving as Chief Electoral Officer for Delhi, when she oversaw the creation of the city’s first photo-verified voter rolls and launched a massive media campaign to encourage voter turnout. These programmes became models for the rest of the country. As Delhi’s Director of Education, she designed a system of state-run, magnet-like schools that helped underprivileged children become scientists, doctors, engineers, civil servants, and advanced statisticians. Earlier, she participated in launching India’s Pulse Polio program, which ultimately eradicated the disease from the country. She was later Member Secretary of the National Commission for Women. Satbir earned a bachelor’s and a master’s degree at St. John’s College in Agra and a PhD in Psychology at Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi. Her two sons, Sukrit and Shashwat, live in the United States.