Manoj Oswal: He has been into animal welfare since his childhood. He became a volunteer with Beauty Without Cruelty in 1994 and did several odd jobs before helping inspection of bird breeding centres and snake rescue centres for violation of Wildlife Protection Act. He also assisted the Poona SPCA as a volunteer during the period. He met Smt Maneka Gandhi, founder in 1995. His first significant step was to go vegan, meaning eliminating all animal products from his life including milk and milk products which included milk, curds, ghee, paneer, butter, cheese and all products originating from animals. He also vowed to stop using leather, silk, honey and such products of animal origin. It was very challenging 22 years ago there were no alternatives such as soy milk or artificial leather and he had to give up most of items in his diet and his outfits.
For next several years he raised awareness for animal welfare and was prominently featured in newspapers speaking against killing of stray dogs which was being favoured by the municipal corporations till then. In 1998 He also filed a civil suit against Pune Municipal Corporation for killing stray dogs. Over a period of next ten years he built his reputation a person specializing in enforcement of animal welfare laws. In next few years due to persistent action and news coverage, practice of killing dogs was discontinued by Pune Municipal Corporation. In the next few years he rose to be recognized as a national figure in enforcement of animal welfare laws. He conducted several raids across the country at hubs of animal abuse.
He was nominated on several government bodies an officer for enforcement of animal welfare
- Animal Welfare Board of India (Min of Environment and Forests) : March 2006-Feb 2018
- High Court Committee to Monitor Animal Welfare Laws in Maharashtra: Jan 2010 to Jan 2014
- Wildlife Crime Control Bureau : 2013-2015
- “Stray Dogs” Monitoring Committee Pune Municipal Corporation : (1999 To 2017)
- “Stray Dogs” Monitoring Committee Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (2009 To 2017)
- District Collector’s Committee for handling leopard-human conflict. (2014-2015)
Manoj is also a serial entrepreneur with specialization in cyber-crime and cyber-security. He started his entrepreneurial journey in 1997 with formation of his firm Computers Unlimited after which he setup several ventures in the field. In 2001 he ventured into the market in the United Kingdom and later into the US, Canada and Western European Market. The ventures founded by the Manoj in India are Computer Unlimited, A Virtual World, Ebiz Logic Pvt Ltd, Creatives and Logics, 01 eSynergy P Ltd The EarthSavers Alliance. He is also owns a building material firm named “Manoj Sales”. His latest venture is a cybersecurity company Bureau for Cyber Crime Investigation and Research(BCIR). Apart from companies in India The petitioner is also associated with the following companies abroad as Chief Technology Officer or Project Consultant. 01 Synergy LLC, America, 01 Synergy BV, Netherlands, 01 Synergy,Canada, Toronto and Creatives and Logics Ltd, London.