- Born in Vidisha, India, January 1954
- Gave up career as electrical engineer to devote himself to freeing children from slave labor
- Founded the New Delhi-based Bachpan Bachao Andolan, or Save the Childhood Movement, which fights child labor, child trafficking and child servitude
- Heads the Global March Against Child Labor, a network of 2,000 civil society organizations and trade unions in 140 countries
- Led various forms of peaceful protest focused on the exploitation of children for financial gain
- Advocates for the right of all children to an education
- Husband and father of two
- Says the prize means "people will give more attention to the cause of children in the world"