Varun has been fighting for human rights and child protection and welfare. He has handled many difficult situations during the rescue of children from bonded labour.

Varun Pathak is the Chairman of the Delhi based Child Welfare Committee formed by the Government of India. For the last sixteen years Varun has been working for human rights and child welfare. He is an expert on child protection. He has been giving his services to civil society, international organizations, the Government of India and to the Ministry of Women and Child Development.

Varun says the zeal to do social work comes from within. When you feel the pain of others and want to do something about it, you are driven towards social service. He had such feelings right from an early age. He went on doing whatever he could do for people in need of help.

Varun had his schooling from his hometown Bulandshahr in UP. For his graduation and masters he went to the iconic Aligarh Muslim University. During his college days he always participated in various activities like NSS, Drama, Photography, Mountaineering etc. While taking part in all these activities he had the chance to meet people of different backgrounds and cultures and had an opportunity to interact with them. He came to know about social problems in his conversations with them.

Gradually, Varun started working for street children. He also went to the Human Rights Commission during his internship. He chose to work in the field of Child Rights Protection as he felt that children are the country’s future and we must take care of them. He says there is rampant malnutrition in our country which requires a lot of work. He studied the working of many organizations who are running the child helpline 1098 in Delhi.

Varun says in this field you must act immediately whenever a situation comes to your knowledge. He started solving problems for children in difficult situations. Gradually he developed an identity in this field and people and government departments started recognising his work. He worked for five years with a US based organization. He works for the prevention of human and sex trafficking, rescue of minor girls from brothels and red light areas, rescue of child and bonded labour and other such areas.

Varun says when he worked with government departments he realised that the perception that the government does nothing is wrong. He saw from inside the dedication of some officers and the difficulties and challenges faced by them. He was appointed as a member of the five member committee which worked out suggestions for the drafting of the POCSO act. He was appointed by the ministry as Chairman of the Child Welfare Committee which is a bench of magistrates with sweeping powers. But he says along with the power comes responsibility too. You have to make decisions, coordinate with various police and government departments. He has been provided a team, staff, counselors and also advocates to assist in the committee's work.

Varun recalls an incident when they rescued a group of minor children from the North-East who were trapped as bonded labour in a big slaughter house in Delhi. In another incident, he recalls rescuing a minor Nepalese girl from a brothel in Delhi. He has to face such difficult operations frequently. All this is very challenging. People engaged in such activities and traffickers try to scare him by threats and attacks, but he is not deterred.

Varun has helped in the framing of many policies and guidelines and the drafting of acts for child welfare. During Covid too, the committee has been active and he is happy that the Governments of Delhi and India are doing a lot for children affected by Covid. He is also part of many working groups formed in this regard.

Varun says that sometimes challenges come in your personal life too. He remembers the incident when his younger brother was stopped by a police party for traffic violation just when the new Motor Vehicles Act had come into force. Due to their rude and abusive behaviour his brother, a young man, had a heart attack and he died. The police personnel simply ran away from their responsibility and did not provide him any medical assistance or take him to a hospital. Varun had to take the fight to the Human Rights Commission which ultimately acted in the matter and action was taken against the police and the hospital which had refused to provide any medical help.

Varun’s message for the youth is that they must have patience in life and they shall do everything with good planning. They should also be aware of their responsibilities towards society and must give back something to society. In his opinion, it is very necessary to be a good human being.

Varun says the highlight of his life was when he was invited as chief guest in his alma mater the Aligarh Muslim University on the birth anniversary celebrations of its fouder Sir Syed two years ago.

Varun says he is satisfied with his life and if he gets a chance to travel back in time he would only want to relive his college and hostel days which were great fun.

Talking about leadership he says that some have it by birth but some develop it when they work with a team. He thinks a good leader always takes his team along.