Pravin Patkar Biography 
Pravin Patkar is a social worker and human rights activist from Mumbai and co-founder of an NGO named Prerana in Mumbai, which aims to protect women and kids from child trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation. He set up this organization aside his wife, Priti Patkar, who holds a Master’s in Social Service from The Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai with a gold medal. Pravin also founded Asia’s first Anti-Human Trafficking Resource Centre supported by the US Government, in 1999. Pravin is also a teacher by profession for the past 4 decades, of which 20 years is associated with The Tata Institute of Social Sciences.
Pravin Patkar hails from Mumbai, Maharashtra. He is married to social activist Priti Patkar, and the couple work together for the betterment of human kind. Pravins holds a PhD in Social Provisioning in Prostitution from Mumbai University. After 40 years of academic career, he took voluntary retirement in 1995 as Associate Professor. Yet he continues teaching in non-formal education sectors, and also published many books. Apart from his activities associated with Prerana, he has been a part of many social activities and relief work since 1970s. He coordinated relief work in 1977 Andhra Pradesh Cyclone, Bhopal Gas Tragedy 1985, Morbi Flood Gujarat, and many other natural calamities.
The couple has been associated with this field for more than 30 years. They have rescued many women and children from the grip of commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking through their combined effort. Prerana was started in 1986, soon after Priti completed her Master’s degree in Social Service from The Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. She also did a lot of research works before the accomplishment of the project. Prerana is the world's first Institutional Placement Programme, and world's first Network of Anti Trafficking Organizations too.
Published: September 16, 2018
Updated: September 16, 2018
