Important Links
Grievance Redressal
A Grievance Redressal Committee is formed at EDII to promote and maintain a conducive and unprejudiced environment. It is a measure to develop a responsive and accountable attitude in the Institute and ensure that there is no laxity in terms of fair deal with the staff.
The EDII Staff Grievance Redressal Committee (GRC) will encourage faculty and staff to come up and express their feelings, ideas and difficulties and seek resolution of specific grievances which remain unresolved through the existing norms.
‘Grievance’ means any ‘Grievance’ relating to any faculty and staff(including contractual) arising out of the implementation of the policies/rules or decisions of the Institute. It can include matters relating to promotion, leave,increment, acting arrangements, non-extension of benefits under rules, transfers, interpretation of service rules, etc. It is mandatory that the grievance should be work related and not personal.
The constitution of the Grievance Redressal Committee is:
Rajshree Paatil, GB Member : Chairperson
Director General, EDII : Ex officio-Member
Dr. Raman Gujral, Prof. & Director (DoP), EDII : Member
Dr. Satya R. Acharya, Prof. & Director (DoEE), EDII : Member
Shri J. B. Patel, Distinguished Visiting Faculty, EDII : Member
The Chairperson may co-opt any person as member; if he/she desires so.
Head-Administration Division of the Institute will be the Convener of the Committee, who will coordinate and administer the grievance handling process in addition to documenting the same. However, the Convener will not be apart of the decision-making process.
- An aggrieved faculty/staff shall first present his/her grievance in writing to his/her Reporting Officer (R.O.). The R.O. could then seek Head- Administration’s intervention to get the grievance redressed within seven working
- If the redressal of the grievance by the R.O. is unsatisfactory, the aggrieved staff may request forwarding his/her grievance to the Director General through Head-Administration within a week’s time.
- Director General, will take suitable and appropriate decision in the matter and communicate the same to the aggrieved
- In case the concerned staff member is not satisfied with the decision of Director General, EDII he/she may request the Director General to forward his/her Grievanceto the Grievance Redressal The grievance will then be placed before the Grievance Redressal Committee by the Convener (Head- Administration) within 30 days.
- Based on the merit of the case, in the light of feedback and inputs received,the Grievance Redressal Committee would make its recommendations and send them to Director General, EDII. Director General, EDII, will take an appropriate action in the case based on these However, if the Grievance Redressal Committee desires, it may send its recommendations to the Governing Body of the Institute for ratification.
The Grievance Redressal Committee could meet as and when required.
Policy Against Sexual Harassment
As a national resource organisation in the field of entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII) strongly supports effective enforcement of basic human right, gender equality and guarantee against sexual harassment and abuse. EDII’s emphasis is on creatinga conducive environment wherein all faculty, staff, students and participants can function without gender violence, sexual harassment and gender discrimination.
With this in view and in compliance with the applicability of Sexual Harassmentof WOMEN at Work Place (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act 2013 (hereinafter referred to as “the Act”). EDII hereby adopts the following policy to prevent or deter acts of sexual harassment and provide relevant proceduresfor resolution, settlement or prosecution of acts of sexual harassment inaccordance with applicable provisions of “the Act”.
The rules and regulations outlined in this policy shall be applicable to all sexualharassment made by all Employees, Students (residential & non-residential) and Participants (national & international) on the following ground:
- By a Member of EDII against any other member of EDII irrespective of whether the harassment is alleged to have taken place within or outside the
- By a Resident (employee/student/participant) against a member of EDII ormade a member against a resident irrespective of whether the sexual harassment is alleged to have taken place within or outside the
In the above, the following definitions will apply:
- ‘Employee’ means a person employed at workplace for any work on regular,temporary, ad-hoc or on daily wage basis; either direct or through anagent, including a contractor; with or without the knowledge of the principal employer, whether for remuneration or not, or working on a voluntary basis or otherwise, whether the terms of employment are expressed or implied and includes a co- worker, contract worker, probationer, trainee, apprentice or called by any other such
- ‘Students’ include regular students (resident & non-resident), exchange students as well as executive education participants of EDII who will be placed at EDII on short-duration
- ‘Participants’ include both national and international participants of EDII placed on EDII campus on short duration
- ‘Resident’ means any person who is a temporary or permanent resident of any of the accommodations or premises allotted to any of the members/students/participants of
- ‘Campus’ includes all places of work and residence of EDII. It encompasses all places of instruction, research and administration, hostels, health centres, sports grounds, staff quarters, public places (including corridors/parking places and the like) and canteens/cafeteria, on EDII
- ‘Workplace’ to be covered under this policy shall be in line with section 2(o) of the Act, and will include within EDII campus (as defined above), Branch/Project offices, outside Official Visits, Field Visits, Institutional Visits,Meetings, Transportation,
The policy extends to behaviour which is considered as “Sexual Harassment”as defined under section 2(n) of the Act. It includes any one of the following unwelcome acts or behaviour (whether directly or by implication) viz;
- physical contact and advances; or
- a demand or request for sexual favours; or
- making sexually coloured remarks; or
- showing pornography; or
- any other unwelcome physical or non-verbal conduct of sexual
- Unwelcome sexual advances and verbal or physical conduct such as, lewd comments, remarks, jokes, letters, phone calls, e-mails, physical gestures, gawking, stalking, sounds or display of derogatory naturewith a purpose and/or effect of interfering with an individual’s performance or of creating an intimidating hostile or offensive
- When a person uses, with sexual purpose, any part of the body or any object as an extension of the body in relation to another person without latter’s consent or against the person’s will, such conduct will amount to sexual
- This Policy shall be in force with effect from 1st April2014.
- This Policy shall be known as “POLICY AGAINST WOMEN SEXUAL HARRASMENT”.
- Object and purpose of the policy shall be the same as that of the Actand to implement the statutory provisions of the Act, together with addressing and catering the issues and remedies in respect of “Sexual Harassment to Women employees, students and participants (national & international) at workplace”.
- All women employees, students and participants are entitled to a work environment that is free from “Sexual Harassment”.
- “EDII Internal Complaints Committee” (hereinafter referred as EDII-ICC) shall be constituted under this policy and the same shall be known as “EDII Internal Complaints Committee” (EDII-ICC). EDII-ICC is formed and constituted by the Institute in accordance with the provisions of the Act and Rules. The Institute shall have the power to makevariation/modification/amendment in the policy within the skeleton of the Act.
- Constitution and Administration of EDII-ICC under this policy is as under and/or any change/modification/amendment in the same shall be communicated from time-to- time to all the employees, students and participants of the Institute through an e-mail. It shall be displayed at the website of the Institute’s Portal.
- Presiding Officer and Members of EDII-ICC shall hold office for a period of three years.
- “EDII Internal Complaints Committee” (EDII-ICC) would consist of a Presiding Officer and members of faculty, staff, students and participants and a representative from the NGO sector. At least 50% of EDII- ICC would consist of female members. The representatives of students and participants in the said Committee would be on invitation basis given the fact that they are on campus on short duration basis. Presiding Officer should essentially be a woman to look into all aspects related to a given incident.
- The term of each member shall be of three years. The Committee shallat all times be in existence and changes in its composition, whenever necessary, shall be posted on the EDII’s website. The meeting of the Committee shall be held on need basis.
- EDII shall have the right to remove the Presiding Officer and/or any member of the EDII-ICC before the period of three years, by assigning reasons in writing without any further process or inquiry.
- EDII shall fill up the vacancy in the EDII-ICC as may be created by removal, death, expiration of appointment term, resignation by member etc., within 15 days of such an event.
- The Presiding Officer shall appoint a Contact Officer amongst the members of EDII-ICC who will be available at a designated place and time for the purpose of administering the policy.
- Any incident of Sexual Harassment that comes to the knowledge of any employee/student/participant shall be reported to EDII-ICC promptly thereupon EDII-ICC shall proceed with investigation, adjudication and pronouncing decisions consequent to such complaint in accordance with this policy and the Act.
- Anybody who complains to the EDII-ICC or participates in the investigations of the EDII-ICC for giving evidence on statement shall not be victimized or subject to any unfavourable treatment. Even the identity of such employee will be kept confidential, if necessary.
5.1 The aggrieved woman employee/student/participant can lodge acomplaint in writing before the ‘Contact Officer’ of EDII-ICC within 30 days from the date of last incident. In case of a series of incidents, the Aggrieved Woman may authorize any third party who has knowledge of the incident to act on her behalf to lodge complaint in writing.
5.2 Where the aggrieved woman is unable to make a complaint on accountof physical or mental incapacity or death or otherwise, her legal heir or such other person may be prescribed to make a complaint.
5.3 The mechanism for registering complaints shall be safe. The Committee (EDII-ICC) will maintain complete confidentiality of the entire proceedings as only such a Committee can provide the needed courage, comfort and trust for someone to come forward and make a complaint.
5.4 Both parties (the victim and the accused) will be given an opportunity topresent their views to the Complaint Committee (EDII-ICC) during the investigation process.
5.5 The Internal Committee (EDII-ICC) shall have the same powers as are vested in a civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 when trying a suit in respect of the following matters, viz;
a) summoning and enforcing the attendance of any person andexamining him on oath;
b) investigating details and production of documents; and
c) any other matter which may be prescribed.
5.5 The International Committee (EDII-ICC) may, before, initiating an inquiryand at the request of the aggrieved women, take steps to settle the matter amicably between her and the respondent through conciliation. When a settlement has been arrived, the Committee shall record the settlement so arrived and forward the same to Director General, EDII.
5.6 EDII-ICC shall provide the copies of the settlement to the aggrieved woman and the respondent.
5.7 The inquiry shall be completed within a period of ninety days.
On completion of an inquiry, the EDII-ICC shall provide a report of its findingsto the Director General, EDII, within a period of ten days from the date of completion of inquiry and such a report be made available to the concerned parties.
6.1 Where the EDII-ICC, arrives at the conclusion that the allegation against the respondent has not been proved, it shall recommend to the Director General,EDII that no action is required to be taken in the matter.
6.2 Where the EDII-ICC arrives at the conclusion that the allegation against the respondent has been proved, it shall recommend to Director General, EDII, as prescribed under:
a) In case of EDII’s employees, the disciplinary action could be in the form of warning, written apology, adverse remarks in the Confidential Report, debarring from supervisory duties, denial of membership of committees, denial of re-employment, stopping of annual increment/promotion, demotion, suspension, dismissal or any other relevant mechanism.
b) In case of students, disciplinary action could be in the form of warning, written apology, rustication from hostel/campus, suspension for a specific period of time, rustication from course, debarring from contesting elections, debarring from holding posts such as, member of a Committee.
c) In the case of national & international participants, Director General, EDII, shall initiate necessary action by making a complaint with the sponsor.
d) In the case of third party harassment/outsider harassment, the Director General, EDII, shall initiate action by making a complaint with an appropriate authority.
Director General, EDII, is required to act upon the recommendations of EDII-ICC within six days of its receipt.
If the allegation made by the aggrieved woman employee/student/participantis found to be malicious or with mala-fide intention or false knowledge, Director General, EDII, may take necessary action against the said woman employee/student/participant for misconduct, in accordance with the provisions of the Service Rules of the Institute or Student Manual or recommendations of EDII-ICC.
In the case of non-implementation of recommendations, an aggrieved person may appeal to the court within ninety days.
EDII will discharge all the duties as per Chapter VI ‘Duties of Employer’ of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act 2013, dated April 23, 2013, Ministry of Law & Justice. EDII will also ensure the following to its employees:
9.1 A safe working environment at the work place which shall include safety from the persons coming in to contact;
9.2 Display at a conspicuous place in the work place, the consequences of sexual harassment;
9.3 Organize workshops and awareness programmes at regular intervals for sensitizing the employees with the provisions of the Act and orientation programmes for the members of EDII-ICC in the manner as may be prescribed;
9.4 Provide necessary facilities to EDII-ICC for dealing with the complaint and conducting an inquiry.
9.5 Assist in securing the attendance of respondent and witnesses before EDII- ICC as it may require having regard to the complaint made;
9.6 Provide assistance to the woman if she chooses to file a complaint in relation to the offence under the Indian Penal Code or any other law for thetime being in force.
9.7 Treat sexual harassment as a misconduct under the Service Rules and initiate action for such misconduct; and
9.8 Monitor timely submission of reports by EDII-ICC.
Whistle Blower Policy
1.1 Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII) believes in conducting all its affairs in fair and transparent manner, by adopting the highest standards of professionalism, honesty, integrity and ethical behavior.
The organization is committed to comply with the laws and regulations to which it is subject. For this, it has put in place systems, policies and processes interpret and apply these laws and regulations in the organization an environment. These would help to strengthen and promote ethical practices and ethical treatment of all those who work in and with the organization.
Through this policy, EDII is providing a window through which serious irregularities may be brought to light, by individuals who may be interacting with/observing the activities of the Institute.
1.2 For this purpose, the Institute proposes to establish a mechanism called “Whistle Blower Policy” for employees to report to the management instances of unethical behaviour, actual or suspected, fraud or violation of the Institute’s ethics andfairandtransparentoperations.
1.3 Accordingly, this Whistle Blower Policy (“the Policy”) has been formulated witha view to provide a mechanism for employees of the Institute to approach The Chairperson of a Committee constituted for this purpose. This policy would also help creating an environment where individuals feel free and secure to raise the alarm where they see a problem. It will also ensure that whistle blowers are protected from retribution, whether within or outsidethe organization
The definitions of some of the key terms used in this Policy are given below.
2.1 Whistle Blower: An individual employee, sponsors, project funders, students and their parents, customer of the organization and other stakeholders, who makes a Protected Disclosure, keeping the organization’s interests in mind.
2.2 Employee: Every employee of the Institute including the Director General in the employment of the Institute.
2.3 Protected Disclosure: Any communication made in good faith that discloses or demonstrates an intention or evidence of
➢ An ongoing spurious/unethical activityor
➢ Any condition that may pre-empt occurrence of such activities
2.4 Subject: A person against or in relation to whom a Protected Disclosure has been made or evidence gathered during the course of an investigation.
2.5 Investigators: Persons authorized, consulted or approached by the Chairperson of the Committee.
The Whistle Blower’s Role is that of a reporting party, with reliable information. He/ she is not required or expected to act as investigators or finder of facts. He/she cannot determine corrective actions either. Whistle blower does not have to obtain evidence in order to support his/her information. His/her role is simply to “Raise the Alarm”.
All the stakeholders of EDII are eligible to make Protected Disclosures under the Policy, in relation to matters concerning theInstitute.
A matter can be considered serious enough for an alarm to be raised if it satisfies any of the following conditions:
5.1 Serious violation of any organization-level policy, indicating thatcertain internal control points are weak
5.2 Matter is likely to receive media or public attention
5.3 Exposes the organization to a significant monetary or non-monetaryLiability
5.4 Points towards any event which is the result of criminal action, e.g., Disappearance of cash/ funds
5.5 Indicates any incident/possible incident of sexual harassment at theWorkplace
5.6 Indicates a significant threat to the health/safety of employees/community
5.7 Any other malpractices
Any matter which is an individual employee grievance relating to the terms and conditions of employment are to be reported to the relevant HR personnel.
An ethical violation where the impact is not at the organization level.
The following instances would constitute a violation of the Whistleblower Policy.
7.1 Bringing to light personal matters regarding another person, which are inno way connected to the organization
7.2 Reporting information which, he/ she does not have an authorization to access
7.3 While it will be ensured that genuine Whistle Blowers are accorded complete protection from any kind of unfair treatment as herein set out,any abuse of this protection will warrant disciplinary action and would be taken up with utmost sternness. The violations would be investigated and dealt with by the Chairperson.
7.4 Actions against such violations could range in their severity, if necessaryeven extending up to termination of one’s employment/ contract/association with the organization.
8.1 The Chairperson or any Member of the Committee can be approached for reporting/voicing any non- financial/ accounting violations and malpractices.
8.2 Care must be taken to keep the identity of the whistle blower confidential.
8.3 Protected Disclosures should be reported in writing so as to ensure aclear understanding of the issues raised.
8.4 The Protected Disclosure should be forwarded under a covering letter, which shall bear the identity of the Whistle Blower. The Chairperson of the Committee shall detach the covering letter and forward only the protected disclosure to the investigators forinvestigation.
8.5 Protected Disclosures should be factual and not speculative or in the nature of a conclusion and should contain as much specific information as possible to allow for proper assessment of the nature and extent of the concern.
8.6 For the purpose of providing protection to the Whistle Blower, the Whistle Blower should disclose his/her identity only in the covering letter accompanying the Protected Disclosure.
9.1 All Protected Disclosures will be thoroughly investigated by the Ethics Counselor/ Chairperson of the Committee.
9.2 Chairperson of the Committee/Ethics Counselor may at their discretion, consider involving any Investigators for the purpose of investigation.
9.3 The decision to investigate is by itself not an accusation andis to be treated as a neutral fact-finding process. The outcome of the investigation may not support the conclusion of the Whistle Blower that an improper or unethical act was committed.
9.4 The identity of a Subject and the Whistle Blower will be kept confidentialto the extent possible given the legitimate needs of law and the investigation
9.5 Subjects will normally be informed of the allegations at the outset of aformal investigation and have opportunities for providing their inputs during the investigation.
9.6 Subjects have a right to be informed of the outcome of the investigation.If allegations are not sustained, the Subject should be consulted as to whether public disclosure of the investigation results would be in the best interest of the Subject and the Institute.
9.7 The investigation shall be completed normally within 45 days of the receipt of the Protected Disclosure.
10.1 Investigators are required to conduct a process towards fact-finding and analysis. Investigators shall derive their authority and access rights fromthe Ethics Counselor/Committee Chairperson when acting within the course and scope of their investigation.
10.2 Technical and other resources may be drawn upon as necessary to augment the investigation.
10.3 Investigations will be launched only after a preliminary review by theChairperson of the Committee, which establishes that:
➢ The alleged act constitutes an improper or unethical activity or conduct;and
➢ The allegation is supported by information specific enough to be investigated or it is felt that the concerned matter is worthy of management review.
11.1 The Chairperson would identify issues from among the alarm raised by whistle blowers that can be diverted to some other existing channels, e.g. Gender Sensitization Committee, Grievance Redressal Committee,etc.
11.2 If the information indicates a possible violation, or a system deficiency, then the Chairperson shall bring the matter to the notice of the Director General,EDII, who would deliberate on this and provide a direction, which shall be implemented by the Chairperson.
11.3 The Chairperson shall provide a feedback to the Whistle Blower on what has happened on the issue raised byhim/her.
12.1 The Committee/Chairpersons are responsible to ensure that the identity of the Whistle Blower is kept strictly confidential. However, in situations where the information provided may lead to uncovering some major issues, which are legal/criminal in nature, the informer’s identity may have to be produced before the Police Authorities or in a Court of Law. In such cases, the above are responsible for ensuring that the identity of the whistle blower/s are produced only to the relevant authorities and to no-one else.
12.2 No unfair treatment will be meted out to a Whistle Blower by virtue of his/her having reported a Protected Disclosure under this Policy. Complete protection will, therefore be given to Whistle Blowers against any unfair practices like retaliation, threat or intimidation of termination/suspension of service, disciplinary action, transfer, demotion, refusal of promotion, or the like including any direct or indirect use of authority to obstruct the Whistle Blower’s right to continue to perform his duties/functions including making further Protected Disclosure.
12.3 Any other employee assisting in the said investigation shall also be protected to the same extent as the Whistle Blower.
12.4 A Whistle Blower may report any violation of the above clause to the Chairperson of the Audit Committee/ Chairperson, who shall investigate into the same and recommend suitable action to the management.
If an investigation leads the Chairperson of the Committee to conclude that an improper or unethical act has been committed, the Chairperson shall recommend to the management of the Institute to take such disciplinary or corrective actions as they deem fit.
The Chairperson shall submit a report to the Director General on a regular basis about all Protected Disclosures referred to him/her since the last report together with the results of investigations, if any.
All Protected Disclosures in writing or documented along with the results of investigation relating thereto shall be retained by the Institute for a minimum period of seven years.
The Institute would communicate the policy across the organization and to the other stakeholder groups, through the website of the Institute’s Portal, to ensure that all concerned, understand the intent & modus operandi of this policy.
17.1 The Committee would review the policy and update it once in two years, or as and when a new development occurs which needs a change in the policy, whichever is sooner.
17.2 Any policy update or renewal would be communicated to all the persons to whom this policy is applicable.
