Ready to be CIC, says Kiran Bedi

 
“I have no problem in accepting any post of a governor or of CIC but I want to make one thing very clear that I am not a political person. I do not know how to do politics; I just want to serve my country and its people,” Bedi told reporters here Monday, in answer to a question.

“So far, nobody has approached me (for CIC) and I have only read about these in newspapers. However, if I get an offer of CIC, then I would work for only one rupee. I do not need position or money, and all my salary would go to NGOs,” said Bedi, India’s first Indian Police Service officer.

Bollywood actor Aamir Khan and social activist Anna Hazare are among several people who have urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to appoint Bedi as the head of the country’s top transparency body, the Central Information Commission.

The post has been vacant since senior bureaucrat Wajahat Habibullah resigned last month to take up his new assignment as Right to Information watchdog in Jammu and Kashmir.

She added, “The condition of health and education sectors is ‘erratic’ in our country. Our government needs to make more investments in these two very important areas. We should also question the government on why they are not using public money to raise the standards.”

Bedi was the chief guest on Monday at the annual convocation of Thapar University here, around 65 km from state capital Chandigarh.