Even after being from a region where women are treated unequally, Chetna Bhati never lost hope and has now herself become a ray of hope for many young girls in Rajasthan.

Chetna Bhati is a DySP in Rajasthan Police, posted in the Women’s Crime and Research Cell, Udaipur Sector. She has immense experience under her belt and is using it to help people get justice.

Chetna was born and brought up in Jaisalmer. Though Jaisalmer is famous for female foeticide and crime against women, Chetna’s parents supported the education of both of their daughters. She requested her parents to let her pursue B.Sc and later also did B.Ed. She continued her studies even after her service and did M.A. in History and in Literature after joining the service. She also pursued a degree course in Human Rights and Information Technology from Delhi University.

Growing up, Chetna was very much inspired by Indira Gandhi and Kiran Bedi. She wrote letters to  Bedi, to which she actually got a reply and is still pen-friends with her. Chetna is also a talented orator, sports player, singer and writer. Her poems, songs and speeches mostly centred around the theme of “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao”. She used to win state and national level competitions of singing, writing and also Basketball. She also once participated in a singing competition on Doordarshan and had got a ‘B+ Certificate too. But her parents didn’t want her to continue all that and made her quit. Her Rajasthani songs are still played on “Akashvani ''.

Chetna joined the service in 1996 as a Sub-Inspector and was promoted to Inspector in 2007. She was finally promoted to Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) in 2018-19. She says that for joining the police force, she had to convince her parents persistently and when she joined, there were very few women in the force. So she felt like it was her duty to not only try and serve justice to the people but also prove a point that women are indeed fit for the service.

The major drive for Chetna’s desire of selfless service is her empathy for the general public. She says that whenever she faces a new case, she tries to emotionally relate to the victim to understand their situation and this motivates her to solve their problem very fast. Chetna’s first preference has always been to take both the quarrelling parties to a common ground and use force only if needed. She has mostly been posted in women police stations and in case of disputes among the family she has always been concerned for the children of the family and thus she always tries to organise a settlement. She is also appreciated for her work in Ajmer, when she pulled many children out of drug addiction, she herself is also most satisfied with her Ajmer posting.

During COVID, Chetna worked tirelessly with the district administration to manage the situation. She has been recommended for the CM’s Medal and the DGP Medal for her exemplary work during the crisis. She also continued her writing during the lockdown. Many of her poems got published in newspapers and she was commended by various media houses too.

Chetna says that to become a police officer, you must possess two qualities. First, you must be honest to the deepest level and committed to delivering only the truth. Second, you should have a service-before-self attitude.

According to Chetna, education is the most important factor to get into any service or job that you want, and to perform well in your profession, you need experience.

Talking about leadership, Chetna says that leadership plays a crucial role in her service. So to become a good leader, you must take people's convenience into consideration and you should be able to make quick decisions.

Chetna’s role models are her mother and Kiran Bedi. While her mother’s persistence helped her get educated, her interaction with Mrs. Bedi inspired her to choose this career field. All in all, both the women are the building blocks of Chetna’s life and personality.

Given a chance to relive her life and do something differently, Chetna would like to become a singer and also continue her passion for sports.

Apart from work, Chetna likes to travel. And being a religious person, she is planning to take her mother on  pilgrimage.

Chetna advises the youth of the nation to never back down by blackmail and report any incident to the police without any fear or hesitation.

Chetna also points out a myth which circles around policemen that they are corrupt. She says that believing and promoting this nonsense will only encourage criminals and discourage policemen. She says instead civilians should support the police and undermine the criminals.