Varghese Theckanath

Varghese Theckanath s.g., is the Director of Montfort Social Institute (Centre for Human Rights and Sustainable Development Education), Hyderabad, India. It is a resource cum training centre for the promotion of Human Rights Education (HRE) and Sustainable Development Education (SDE). The Institute is an affiliate of the Earth Charter Initiative.

Previously, he was the Chairman of the Central Indian Province of the Montfort Brothers of St. Gabriel Educational Society, involved in the promotion of general, technical and special education and development in India for over a hundred years.

He has been a grassroots activist promoting the rights of the urban poor, and has lived in the slums in the Old City of Hyderabad, for over 11 years. He is the founder-director of People’s Initiative Network (PIN), Hyderabad (1990-2001), and Campaign for Housing and Tenurial Rights (CHATRI), Hyderabad 1997- ), both organizations working for the promotion and protection of the rights of the urban poor.

Varghese holds a Master’s Degree in Philosophy (Osmania University, Hyderabad), Master’s Degree in International Law and Human Rights (United Nations University for Peace, San Jose, Costa Rica) and an M.Phil Degree in Development Studies (CESS, Hyderabad).

He has presented papers in international conferences, was a delegate from India to the 99th International Labor Conference of the ILO, Geneva, in 2010. He is a Member of the Task Force of the Ministry of Labor, Government of India on Domestic Workers. He is also the Co-Convener of the National Forum for Housing Rights (NFHR), an umbrella organization of the housing rights movements in different cities in India.