Canon India Gives a Boost to its Flagship “Adopt a Village” CSR Initiative

-Rolls out ‘3e’ thrust in its ‘iCare’ CSR initiative viz Education, Environment and Eye Care.

-Inaugurates the Activity Resource Centre and the Vision Centre to provide comprehensive eye care facilities.

-Engages employees as well as business partners to play an active role in this rural outreach program.

Canon India’s flagship CSR program, ‘Adopt a Village’ today took Karanjoti village in the Thane district of Mumbai, Maharashtra under its wings. Mr. Kazutada Kobayashi, President and CEO, Canon India inaugurated the program, bringing cheer to the residents of the village on this special occasion. With a focus on Canon’s ‘3e’ which comprise of Eye Care, Education and Environment, this village adoption initiative started in 2012, has already made a discernible difference to Ferozpur Namak village in Haryana and Maharaja Katte village in Bengaluru.

Speaking about Canon’s efforts in this direction, Mr. Kobayashi said, “Canon has been in India for close to two decades now and we are committed to giving back as much as possible to the community. There are many ways to measure success and at Canon India, we want to contribute by making Indian villages become self-reliant. The latest addition to our holistic ‘Adopt a Village’ program is the Karanjoti village in Maharashtra. In the past two years, our efforts under this program have shown outstanding results in Haryana as well as Bengaluru, particularly with regards to improvements in school enrollment, infrastructure and the functioning of the Vision Center. We are keen to bring about the same positive change in Karanjoti and in as many other villages as possible. Our target is to have six villages under the ‘Adopt a Village’ program by 2016."

Canon India is keen to become a successful catalyst for change in Karanjoti. Over the next three years, the aim is to improve the school enrollment ratio by ensuring inclusive, quality education and dependable infrastructure. Organizing capacity building for teachers and sensitizing the students as well as the larger community will play an important role in this. Immediate steps will be taken to set up an activity resource center which shall provide books, art and craft material, colors and sports equipment for school children, make provision for safe drinking water and actively co-ordinate with local education authorities for infrastructural improvements in the school.

The newly inaugurated Vision Centre, being set up by Canon India will provide effective eye care facilities to the villagers of Karanjoti and neighboring areas. The activities of the Vision Center will be monitored by a designated city hospital. Canon will make arrangements such that patients needing further investigations or surgery will be transferred to better equipped hospitals.

Canon has also taken the first step towards improving the village environment by planting tree saplings in order to create a green haven in the area. Going forward, general health and sanitation awareness will be promoted through active collaboration with the community.

“Businesses must reconnect company success with concerted efforts to improving the society they operate in. Canon’s corporate philosophy of “Kyosei” means living and working together for the common good. Our CSR initiatives also reflect a similar sentiment. We work hard to ensure that we undertake the relevant steps to help our ‘adopted’ villages become progressive self-reliant rural communities. The goodwill generated by this lends a positive vibe to our entire business and all our stakeholders feel a sense of pride in having contributed meaningfully to their community”, Mr. Kobayashi added further.

Canon’s commitment to furthering long-term, sustainable development has led to a remarkable change in the two villages where the program is currently active. For instance, there has been significant increase in the number of teachers in the school at Ferozpur Namak. From 9 teachers in November 2012, there are 45 teachers working in the school now. Even the student enrollment has gone up by 45% and the number of girl students has increased by nearly 135%. The other major highlight at Ferozpur Namak village is the Vision Centre set up by Canon. The Centre is fitted with Canon’s eye-care machine and has treated over 5000 patients, completed 343 surgeries and also held over 60 eye-care camps in the village and neighboring areas.

Adopted in June 2014, Maharaja Katte village in Bengaluru is also making significant progress along similar lines. Here, Canon is focusing on improving the quality of education through Teachers' Capability Trainings, establishment of a computer lab and a series of community engagement programs. The Vision Centre is also successfully catering to the eye-care needs of the people in the district.

Canon India’s rural outreach programs have the complete support of its employees as well as business partners. Regular volunteering opportunities are organized to build a close connection with the villages as such engagements help to further develop the vibrant culture of social responsibility that already exists in the company.

About Canon Inc.

Canon Inc. (NYSE: CAJ), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leader in the fields of professional and consumer imaging equipment and information systems. Canon’s extensive range of products includes production printers, multifunction office systems, inkjet and laser printers, cameras, video equipment, medical equipment and semiconductor-manufacturing equipment. Originally established in 1937 as Precision Optical Industry, Co., Ltd., a camera manufacturer, Canon has successfully diversified and globalized to become a worldwide industry leader in professional and consumer imaging systems and solutions. With approximately 192,000 employees worldwide, the Canon Group includes manufacturing and marketing subsidiaries in Japan, the Americas, Europe, Asia and Oceania; and a global R&D network with companies based in the United States, Europe, Asia and Australia. Canon’s consolidated net sales for fiscal 2014 (ended December 31, 2014) totalled $30.8 billion (at an exchange rate of 121=US$1).

Visit the Canon Inc. website at: www.canon.com

About Canon India

Canon India Pvt. Ltd. has achieved revenue of Rs. 2026 crore in 2014 which is a 6% growth over the previous year. Canon focuses on multiple market segments of consumer, SME, B2B, Government & Commercial. Canon’s product portfolio extends over a vast variety such as copier MFDs, fax-machines, printers, scanners, All-in-ones, digital cameras, DSLR, Cinematic imaging products,  camcorders, cable ID printers and card printers.

Canon India Pvt. Ltd. is a 100% subsidiary of Canon Singapore Pvt. Ltd., a world leader in imaging technologies. Set up in 1997, Canon markets over 200 comprehensive range of sophisticated contemporary digital imaging. The company today has offices in 14 cities, warehouses in 14 cities across India and employs over 1000 people. Canon has 550 primary channel partners, 14 National Retail Chain partners, and over 6000 secondary retail points. Canon has 140 own retail stores called the Canon Image Square across 69 cities in the country.  Canon’s service reach extends to over 4000 towns with 19 Canon camera service centers and 41 printer Canon Care Centers. Canon India also has 146 authorized service centers for printers and 180 camera collection points.