This policy applies to trustees in India and the UK, staff employed in India by the Venkatraman Memorial Trust (VMTand volunteers. There is no UK staff. It is reviewed at regular intervals.

The Venkat Trust values the diversity of the children, their families, volunteers and staff in India with whom we work and is committed to promoting equality of opportunity and ensuring that no individual is discriminated against.

The Venkat Trust recognizes its obligation under India and UK equal opportunities legislation. It is committed to ensuring fairness in all aspects of its work and will not accept any form of discrimination, direct or indirect, against any member of staff, volunteers or the children with whom it works. It will not tolerate bullying, discrimination or harassment by any of its staff or volunteers and any acts of deliberate discrimination will be dealt with as a disciplinary matter.

It is the Trust’s policy to ensure that no job applicant for a post in India or employee there receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of sex, race, marital status, disability, age, part-time or fixed term contract status, sexual orientation or religion, or is disadvantaged by conditions or requirements that cannot be shown to be justifiable. The Trust is committed not only to its legal obligations but also to the positive promotion of diversity and equality of opportunity in all aspects of employment. We seek to ensure that diversity and the contributions of all involved in the Trust are recognized and valued.

The Venkatraman Memorial Trust expects professional standards of behaviour from all of its volunteers, trustees and India based staff, who are all responsible for implementing this Equality and Diversity Policy and acting in accordance with it and relevant legislation.
The Trustees are responsible for ensuring the overall implementation of the Policy.

Training and development will be available to all India based employees in order to perform their role. They will be given equal opportunities to progress within the Trust and, where appropriate, may be offered training to meet their full potential.
The Trust will actively encourage any member of staff who feels they have been discriminated against or have been the subject of harassment, to bring this to the attention of the trustees without fear of reprisal.

The Venkat Trust ensures that no job applicant or employee receives less favourable treatment. Any job vacancies in India are advertised. The Equal Opportunities and Diversity Policy will be made available to all applicants and to employees. A positive attempt will be made to provide necessary facilities for anyone who requires special work arrangements as a result of disability.

The Venkatraman Memorial Trust (VMT) is committed to ensuring that all children with whom it works are protected from harm. The Trust believes that the welfare of the child is paramount and that all children, without exception, have the right to protection of abuse.
This policy applies to trustees in India and the UK, staff employed in India by the Trust and volunteers. There is no UK staff. It is reviewed at regular intervals.
Any concerns of allegations of abuse will be taken seriously and the appropriate actions taken, if necessary referring the matter to Police.
The Venkat Trust is committed to the safe selection and recruitment of staff.
The designated persons responsible overall for child protection is Sylvia Holder, Founder Trustee and S. Janakiraman, Chairman & India Managing Trustee.

• Physical abuse, which may involve hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning or scalding, drowning, suffocating, or otherwise causing physical harm to a child.
• Emotional Abuse, which is the persistent emotional maltreatment of a child such as to cause severe and persistent adverse effects on the child’s emotional development.
• Sexual Abuse, which involves forcing or enticing a child or young person to take part in sexual activities, not necessarily involving a high level of violence, whether or not the child is aware of what is happening.
• Neglect, which is the persistent failure to meet a child’s basic physical and/or psychological needs, likely to result in the serious impairment of the child’s health or development.
• Bullying, which may be defined as deliberately hurtful behaviour, usually repeated over a period of time, where it is difficult for those bullied to defend themselves.

If child abuse is suspected, concerns would be raised in the first instance with Jude Sax, CEO who would, if necessary, refer it to S Janakiraman, Chairman & India Managing Trustee and ultimately to Sylvia Holder.
Any reported incidents of child abuse will be detailed in the Trust’s records in India and the UK charity informed.
Any concerns will be treated as confidential and shared only with the people identified above.
It is required that everyone involved with the Venkatraman Memorial Trust, either as a trustee, India based member of staff, or a volunteer follows this code of behaviour. Any breaching of the code will lead to disciplinary procedures.
Systems are put in place to ensure that staff and volunteers working with children are aware of their responsibilities and also monitored and supervised. Children are made aware of what they can do in the event of behaviour that is unacceptable or abusive.

This policy applies to trustees in India and UK, staff employed in India by the Trust (there are no UK staff) and volunteers. It is reviewed at regular intervals.

The Venkatraman Memorial Trust collects and uses information about people with whom it communicates. This personal information must be dealt with properly and securely however it is collected, recorded and used – whether on paper, in a computer, or recorded on other material.
The Venkatraman Memorial Trust regards the lawful and correct treatment of personal information as very important to the successful and efficient performance of its functions, and to maintain confidence between those with whom it deals.
To this end the VMT fully endorses and adheres to the Principles of Data Protection, as set out in the Data Protection Act 1998.

The purpose of this policy is to ensure that the volunteers and trustees of VMT Trust are clear about the purpose and principles of Data Protection and to ensure that it has guidelines and procedures in place which are consistently followed.
The Venkatraman Memorial Trust undertakes that:
• Personal data will be processed fairly and lawfully
• Data will only be collected and used for specified purposes
• Data will be adequate, relevant and not excessive
• Data will be accurate and up to date
• Data will not be held any longer than necessary
• Data subject’s rights will be respected
• Data will be kept safe from unauthorized access, accidental loss or damage
• Data will not be transferred to a country outside the European Economic Area, unless that country has equivalent levels of protection for personal data.
The principles apply to “personal data” which is information held on computer or in manual filing systems from which they are identifiable. The Venkat Trust’s employees, volunteers and trustees who process or use any personal information in the course of their duties will ensure that these principles are followed at all times.

The following procedures have been developed in order to ensure that The Venkat Trust meets its responsibilities in terms of Data Protection. For the purposes of these procedures data collected, stored and used by the Trust falls into two broad categories:
1. VMT’s internal data records; volunteers and trustees
2. VMT’s external data records; supporters or clients.
Founder Trustee Sylvia Holder is ultimately responsible for the policy’s implementation.

The Venkatraman Memorial Trust obtains personal data (names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses), application forms, and references and in some cases other documents from India based staff, volunteers and trustees. This data is stored and processed to distribute relevant organizational material e.g. meeting papers.

The contact details of India based staff, trustees and volunteers will only made available to other trustees and volunteers. Any other information supplied on application will be kept in a secure filing cabinet and is not accessed during the day to day running of the organization.
Contact details of India based staff, volunteers and trustees will not be passed on to anyone outside the organization without their explicit consent.
India based staff, volunteers and trustees will be supplied with a copy of their personal data held by the organization if a request is made.
All confidential post must be opened by the addressee only.

The Venkat Trust will take reasonable steps to keep personal data up to date and accurate. Personal data will be stored for six years after a member of staff, volunteer or trustee has been involved with the organization and brief details for longer. Unless the organization is specifically asked by an individual to destroy their details it will normally keep them on file for future reference. The Founder Trustee has responsibility for destroying personnel files.

Personal data is kept in paper-based systems and on a password-protected computer system. Every effort is made to ensure that paper-based data are stored in organized and secure systems.

Where practicable, The Venkat Trust will seek consent from individuals before displaying photographs in which they appear. If this is not possible (for example, a large group photo), the organization will remove any photograph if a complaint is received. This policy also applies to photographs published on the organisations website or in the Newsletter.

The Venkat Trust obtains personal data (such as names, addresses, and phone numbers) from supporters. This data is obtained, stored and processed solely to assist in the efficient running of services. Personal details supplied are only used to send material that is potentially useful and has been requested. Most of this information is stored on the Trust’s database.

Written consent is not requested as it is assumed that the consent has been granted when an individual freely gives their own details.
Personal data will not be passed on to anyone outside the organization without explicit consent from the data owner unless there is a legal duty of disclosure under other legislation, in which case the Founder Trustee will discuss and agree disclosure with the other trustees.

Only the organization’s India based staff, volunteers and trustees will normally have access to personal data.
All India based staff, volunteers and trustees are made aware of the Data Protection Policy and their obligation not to disclose personal data to anyone who is not supposed to have it.
Information supplied is kept in a secure filing, paper and electronic system and is only accessed by those individuals involved in the delivery of the service.
Information will not be passed on to anyone outside the organization without their explicit consent, excluding statutory bodies e.g. the Inland Revenue.
Individuals will be supplied with a copy of any of their personal data held by the organization if a request is made.
All confidential post must be opened by the addressee only.

The Venkat Trust will take reasonable steps to keep personal data up to date and accurate.
Personal data will be stored for as long as the data owner/ client/ member supports our work. Where an individual ceases to support our work and it is not deemed appropriate to keep their records, their records will be destroyed. However, unless we are specifically asked by an individual to destroy their details, we will normally keep them on file for future reference.
If a request is received from an organization/ individual to destroy their records, we will remove their details from the database and request that anyone else connected with the organization destroy them.

Personal data may be kept in paper-based systems and on a password-protected computer system. Paper-based data are stored in organized and secure systems.

During the course of their duties with the Venkat Trust India based staff, volunteers and trustees will be dealing with information such as names/addresses/phone numbers/e-mail addresses of supporters or volunteers. They may be told or overhear sensitive information. To comply with the law, personal information must be collected and used fairly, stored safely and not disclosed to any other person unlawfully.