Dr. Veerendra Mishra

Director, RACE Lab and Founder, Samvedna

About Me

Dr. Veerendra Mishra is an IPS officer from the Madhya Pradesh cadre who has been serving in the police organization since January 1995. He is the founder of RACE Lab – the first anti-human trafficking lab in India. Dr. Mishra is also the founder of Samvedna, a non-government organization based out of Bhopal, which has been working with the Bedia community in Madhya Pradesh for the past 15 years to prevent and rehabilitate victims of intergenerational prostitution.

Dr. Mishra has an illustrious career in government service, having served for 7 years in the Government of India. He has held several positions, including CEO, CARA (Ministry of Women and Child Development), Executive Director, NYKS and National Director, NSS at the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, and Director, NISD, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. He has also served in two United Nations missions for one year each in Bosnia Herzegovina and Kosovo, and was pro-bono involved in the UN Mission in East Timor for five months.

Dr. Mishra has made significant contributions to the law-making and policies of the Government of India, including the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, Transgender Act and its Rules (2019/2020), Human Trafficking Bill (2022), and Adoption Guidelines (2015).

Dr. Mishra is a highly accomplished scholar with a Ph.D. in Psychology and has been a recipient of prestigious fellowships such as the H. Humphrey, Fulbright Scholarship, and Kalinga fellowship. He has been invited to speak on human trafficking at various universities in the United States, including Boston University, Georgetown University, George Mason, Buffalo State University, and the University of Minnesota.

Dr. Mishra has authored seven books, including four published by SAGE Publication and one by Routledge (Taylor and Francis), India. He has also published several articles in national and international journals. He has received numerous awards and recognitions, both nationally and internationally, for his contributions to the field of human trafficking.

Dr. Mishra is an External Advisor to the National Commission for Women, Government of India (2022-2024), and an Emeritus Resource Faculty at Rashtriya Raksha University (RRU), a Central University and an Institution of National Importance, Gandhinagar, Gujarat. He regularly trains various stakeholders on human trafficking, including members of legislative assemblies (MLAs), IPS officers and other police officers, academicians, and civil society organization members. He serves as a resource person to NCW (National Commission for Women), NHRC (National Human Rights Commission), NCPCR (National Commission for Protection of Child Rights), LBSNAA (Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration), and NPA (National Police Academy).