Whistleblower protection policy
How to raise a serious concern about Navantara, and the protection you are entitled to when you do.
Purpose
People close to an organisation are usually the first to see when something is wrong. This policy exists so that raising a concern is a safe thing to do — and so that a concern reaches someone able to act on it.
What to report
- Harm or risk of harm to a child or program participant.
- Fraud, theft, bribery, or misuse of funds.
- Falsification of program results, financial records, or donor reports.
- Discrimination, harassment, or abuse of authority.
- Breach of law, of our policies, or of the conditions attached to a grant.
- Any attempt to conceal the above.
Who can report
Anyone: staff, volunteers, students, parents, teachers, partner-organisation personnel, vendors, donors, or members of the public. You do not need proof, and you do not need to be certain. You need a reasonable, honestly held concern.
How to report
Write to donate@navantara.org with "Protected disclosure" in the subject line, or call +91 915 420 3796 and ask for the Executive Director. Postal reports may be sent, marked confidential, to Navantara AI Learning Foundation, Bollileni Bion, Kothaguda, Opposite Botanical Garden, Serilingampally, Kondapur, K.V. Rangareddy - 500084, Telangana.
Where the concern involves the Executive Director or a member of senior staff, ask for the disclosure to be directed to the Chairperson of the Board instead; it will not be shared with the person concerned.
Reports may be made anonymously. An anonymous report is harder to investigate, so please include as much detail as you safely can.
What happens next
- Where we have your contact details, we acknowledge the report within three working days.
- An assessment is carried out by someone with no involvement in the matter, reporting to the Board.
- Immediate risk to a child is escalated to the statutory authorities at once, in line with our Child Safety & Safeguarding Policy policy.
- We tell you the outcome as far as confidentiality and the rights of others permit.
Protection from retaliation
No one who raises a concern in good faith will be dismissed, demoted, removed from a placement, denied a reference, or subjected to any other detriment for having done so. This holds even if the concern turns out to be mistaken.
Retaliation against a person who has reported is itself a disciplinary matter, and will be treated as seriously as the conduct originally reported.
Your identity is disclosed only to those who need it to carry out the assessment, or where the law requires it. Where disclosure becomes unavoidable, we tell you first.
This protection does not extend to a report made knowingly false or made to cause harm.
Review
This policy is reviewed annually by the Board of Directors.
Write to donate@navantara.org or call +91 915 420 3796. Postal queries may be sent to Navantara AI Learning Foundation, Bollileni Bion, Kothaguda, Opposite Botanical Garden, Serilingampally, Kondapur, K.V. Rangareddy - 500084, Telangana.