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Grandson of the Diwan (Finance Minister) of Shakti, an erstwhile princely state in Madhya Pradesh, Vepa Shyam Rao (now Swami Agnivesh) was born on 21 Sptember 1939 at Berhampur in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh. He had his schooling at Shakti, and higher education (M.com., L.L.B.) in Calcutta. He taught at the St. Xavier College, Calcutta for some time and later look up legal practice for a while under Sabyasachi Mukherjee, an eminent lawyer, who later on became chief Justice of India. He, however, gave up his legal practice soon and became a sanyasi in 1970. Meantime, he shifted to Haryana State and took up social and cultural work. He later formed a political party, Arya Sabha, got eleceted to the Haryana Legislative Assembly and became Education Minister in the State Government. But soon after, he gave up the job to devote all his energies and time to social movements and struggle for social justice. He is currently Chairperson of the United Nations Trust Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery.