Donates 20 solar panels for energy production centre at Ferozpur Namak village in Mewat District of Haryana, Increased focus on vision centre and village community development in 2014, Aims to benefit people in Ferozpur Namak and neighbouring villages for Eye Care, child development, improved sanitation and water situation to improve quality of life by 2016, Canon India spent INR 46.8 lakhs on CSR activities in 2012 & 2013. Of this, INR 18.5 lakhs was spent on ‘Adopt a Village’ project
NEW DELHI: Canon India Adopt a village: 2014 focus areas • Alternate source of energy – Solar Panel • Quality of Education by Teachers’ Capability Trainings • Establishment of Computer Lab • Community engagement programmes for sustainability • Surgeries at the Vision Centre in the village • Multiple Successors Training • Sanitation Drive New Delhi, Friday, 24th January, 2014: To make a long term and sustainable impact in the three areas of Eye Care, Education and Environment, Canon India Pvt. Ltd. decided to adopt a village in 2012, make it sustainable and then replicate the model in other needy communities.
In line with its continued commitment to the society, Canon today, on the occasion of its first anniversary of the “Adopt A Village” programme, has added yet another milestone to its philanthropic efforts by donating twenty solar panels to the energy production centre at Ferozpur Namak village in Mewat District of Haryana. Installed on the roof of the government school in the village, these solar panels would enable 30 fans and up to 20 lights to be operational for 6 to 8 hrs in a day.
Expressing his views on the occasion, Mr. Kazutada Kobayashi, President & CEO, Canon India said, “The Ferozpur Namak Village is the first project under our holistic Adopt a Village campaign and has successfully completed one year of operation. Our purpose was to bring up the village under the three areas of our core CSR policy – Education, Eye Care and Environment. During the last one year, there have been significant improvements in the overall infrastructure of the school, adopted under this campaign at the village. We are proud of this significant achievement and want to help the village to become self-sustainable in the long run enabling us to bring more villages under this program.”
The company had recently donated an eye check-up machine to the vision centre in the village. Since its inception in November 2012, Canon’s ‘Adopt a Village’ project has seen several milestones with regards to the eye care facility including screening of 6,000 patients, 187 eye surgeries and 52 eye screening camps.
One of the major highlights has been that the enrolment of girl child in senior classes at the government school in the village has increased by 83% from last year with an increase in the number of teachers at the school from 09 to 44.
To further strengthen its Adopt a village project in 2014, Canon will focus on quality of education through Teachers’ Capability Trainings, establishment of a computer lab and a series of community engagement programmes for sustainability at the village school. In the vision centre, Canon aims to make provisions for conducting surgery and multiple successors training. A sanitation drive will begin for overall village community development.
By 2016, the company aims to benefit 50,000 people in Ferozpur Namak and neighboring villages for Eye Care, development of 1,500 children, improved sanitation and water situation to improve quality of life of 9,000 people in 1,100 households.
Other CSR projects undertaken by the company include adoption of 3 rapid metro stations for creating a green belt around them in Gurgaon and a photo exchange program between Canon India and Canon China wherein kids in the adopted villages of these two countries click pictures with Canon cameras and share them across boundaries with each other.
Going forward, Canon India Pvt. Ltd. plans to initiate its village adoption programmes in Bangalore & Mumbai.
Canon strongly believes that the enhancement of CSR activities and processes currently taking place are set to further entrench the vibrant culture of social responsibility that already exists in the company.