The OEM has been celebrating the 4th anniversary of the adoption of Maharaja Katte Village at Kanakapura Taluk.
Through its flagship CSR endeavour- ‘Adopt a Village’ – Canon India adopts villages and undertakes the charge of their development in the following “4E” areas – Education, Environment, Eye care and Empowerment.
Having adopted Maharaja Katte in 2014, Canon India says it has focused on the development of over 1300 villagers, with a special focus on the all-inclusive development of children in the village school.
To commemorate the occasion, Mr. Kazutada Kobayashi, President & CEO of Canon India, along with 50 employees from the organisations’ Bangalore and Canon ISDC (India Systems Development Centre) offices visited the village.
Encouraging holistic development among children, and serving as an extension to the ‘Learning Beyond Books’ initiative, sports and cultural activities were organised. With the Independence Day of the country approaching, children enthusiastically participated in activities themed around the subject of ‘Freedom’. Sports activities like the three legged race, and a lemon spoon race were also organised to encourage the increased participation of children in extracurricular activities.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Kobayashi, said, “Through our constructive endeavours of ‘Canon India Involve’, we are committed towards driving meaningful and welfare centric initiatives that impact lives and make communities future ready. Having understood the needs and requirements of the village, we have undertaken several development activities towards infrastructure and the holistic improvement of the children, over the course of last four years. For us the real impact of our initiatives is measured by the number of smiling faces, reduced school drop-out ratio, improved attendance, increased count of girl children, among other integral factors. We aim to help them to aspire more, dream bigger and work harder towards achieving their dreams.
“On our way forward, we further see immense scope of improvement and with our employees and partners committed towards the cause of community development, I am confident we will bring about increased change. With over two decades of strong presence in the country, we have further fortified our dedication of offering back to the community.”
Over the past 4 years, the OEM reveals that Maharaja Katte Village has witnessed noticeable developments through Canon India’s implementation of a wide range of activities, under its four core areas, including Education, Eye Care, Environment and Empowerment.
- Education has been focused upon, with the establishment of a ‘Resource Centre’ with learning and playing materials accessible to about 74 students ranging from the 1st to the 7th grade. Through providing a dedicated teacher each for English, Maths and Science subjects, remedial education and teaching assistance is provided to identified children in the school. Children are encouraged to make newspaper reading a habit here and inculcate e-learning as part of their education
- Eye Care has been strengthened with establishment of a ‘Vision Centre’, where free eye check-ups are provided to the villagers and children, under the supervision of eye technicians. The activities under this domain also include health camps, blood donation camps and health related awareness sessions
- Environment activities include regular tree plantation drives, ground levelling activities and environmental awareness sessions, which are conducted with the involvement of Canon employees. 37 Solar Street Lights have been installed in the village to contribute to the environment along with ensuring safety of the villagers. Plans to open kitchen gardens and provision of open garbage pits are also in progress
- With an objective of self-sustainable living, under Empowerment, a vocational training centre has been established in the village, equipped with 12 computers and a set time table, encouraging digital education. Here a dedicated trainer provides computer literacy through desktops and laptops to 52 school students along with 15 village youth. In addition, a baseline survey conducted showed that 59 percent of the household showed interest in tailored skill-training sessions.
In terms of infrastructure, Canon India reveals it has made significant changes in the village, keeping in mind the ease and convenience for villagers. Along with constructing additional classrooms and maintaining separate toilets for boys and girls, a stage has also been raised in the school to provide a platform for children to exhibit their talent and gain confidence. With the health of the villagers being a key concern for Canon, a water purifier has been installed, providing them access to clean and safe drinking water.
The initiative has further extended to add another very important vertical – ‘Learning beyond books’- where the children of the villages adopted by Canon India would be introduced to more of practical experiences and out of book learnings. Children are made to visit the world outside their horizons and learn from real life examples, which will enable an extension in their holistic development.
Canon India has three more adopted villages presently under its flagship CSR initiative – ‘Adopt a Village’. These include Village Maheshwari in Haryana, Karanjoti Village in Mumbai and Sol Gohalia in Kolkata.
