Imagine a day without any electricity. Imagine a week. Imagine years. While India and the world moves forward, there are still pockets in the country that face several unsaid challenges every day.

The Byragundlu Village in Koratagere Taluk of Tumkur District is one such example. Located in the suburbs of the hi-tech city of Bengaluru in Karnataka, the day to day struggle of the residents is a matter of major concern. This is because, this village receives power supply for only two to three hours a day.

The CSR team from the Samsung Research Institute- Bangalore visited the village and interacted with the locals. The children were unable to study because of the lack of regular power supply. The SRI-B team decided to make a difference by providing solar powered lanterns to the residents.

With the aim of lighting lives, around 800 such lanterns were distributed among the villagers. On a single charge, each lantern can last for about 12 hours. Two lanterns per household were distributed to assist the villagers. It has enabled children to study in an uninterrupted manner. Moreover, it has helped keep away wild animals, boars and snakes from entering houses.

“Samsung strives to create meaningful innovations to ease up people’s lives, be it for our consumers or the local communities. We are pleased to partner with Karnataka government to fulfil these initiatives and it gives immense happiness to see how small steps can brighten up the lives of our Indian people especially children. Samsung wishes all the best to these children for their studies,” said Dipesh Shah, Managing Director, SRI-B.

“We are happy that Samsung R&D team has taken up the mission towards development of this village. This gesture will surely benefit the villagers by large and motivate the students to study. We are hopeful that our long term association with Samsung will enable us to take up many such developmental activities in the future,” said Ranganath, Panchayat Development Officer.

SRI-B strives towards community development and has undertaken multiple initiatives towards education, sanitation and environment. The team plans to light up more lives by distributing more lamps and covering more villages in its next phase.

Many students said the lantern will be their steady companion, both when they are studying, as well as while doing the household chores.

Rachana, a student of Class XIIth, said the lantern will be of great use to her because she faces a lot of power cuts in her locality. So far, Rachana had to make do with a kerosene lamp during outages. The new solar lamp will not only be more convenient, but also environmental-friendly, she added.

Rachana said the solar lantern will be of great help during outages

A large number of students at the Girls Senior Secondary School in Pataudi aspire to become teachers, when they grow up. Engineering was the second most popular choice as a career goal.

But some students like Puja Sharma have set their eyes on bigger goals. “I want to become an IPS and serve the country,” she said. The Indian Police Service or IPS is one of the three All India Services of the Government of India.

Puja wants to become an IPS officer

Students added that they were happy with the growing recognition women are getting in the country. “Women are playing an important role in the development of the country. We must respect them,” said Tamanna, also a student of Class XII.

The lantern-distribution event at the Girls Senior Secondary School in Pataudi was part of Samsung India’s citizenship initiative to support gender diversity and the girl child. The country’s biggest mobile phone manufacturer has so far handed 10,000 solar lanterns to girl students across Noida, Gurugram and Chennai.

Nearly 40 volunteers from Samsung India went to the school in Pataudi to meet and interact with students

“At Samsung, our aim is to harness the Company’s legacy of innovation to positively transform communities and create a better life for people through different initiatives. Education of the girl child is a key priority and through this initiative we want to reach out and light up the education of 10,000 girl students,” said Mr. Deepak Bhardwaj, Vice President, Samsung India.

Mr. Deepak Bhardwaj, Vice President, Samsung India, distributing solar lanterns at Pataudi

This initiative is a small step towards helping these young girls grow up to become individual role-models, he added.

The lanterns, approved by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India, are equipped with a solar panel and come with a three-year product warranty.

Celebrating International Women’s Day, Samsung will reach out to girl students in government schools of Noida and Gurugram in Delhi-NCR and Sriperumbudur near Chennai. Each girl will be given a solar LED lantern that will enable them to spend more time on their studies, even during power outages.

The lanterns, approved by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India, are equipped with a solar panel and will come with a three-year product warranty.

“At Samsung, our aim is to harness the Company’s legacy of innovation to positively transform communities and create a better life for people through different initiatives. Education of the girl child is a key priority and through this initiative we want to reach out and light up the education of 10,000 girl students. This initiative is a small step towards helping these young girls grow up to become individual role-models,” said Mr. Deepak Bhardwaj, Vice President, Samsung India.

Samsung began its journey in India in 1995, and in over two decades, it has grown into one of the country’s biggest consumer product companies, with 2 factories, 3 R&D centres, 1 design centre, 1.5 lakh retail outlets and over 45,000 employees. Samsung is also India’s Most Trusted Brand and is pioneering local manufacturing through its ‘Make for India’ initiative.

Samsung India Citizenship Initiatives

Samsung Smart Class, the Company’s flagship citizen program in India, promotes digital education among underprivileged students, especially in rural India. This initiative aims to bridge the digital gap between rural and urban India and provide equal opportunities for quality education to children from all backgrounds. Since 2013, over 400 Samsung Smart Class have been set up at Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya schools across the length and breadth of India benefitting over 2 lakh students. In addition, over 7,400 teachers have been trained on how to use interactive technology to teach.

The Company has also established Samsung Technical Schools in partnership with the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME), Government of India and ITIs in the states of Bihar, West Bengal, Kerala, Rajasthan and Delhi, to address the need for talented manpower with practical know-how and relevant industry experience. Students also benefit from exposure to Samsung manufacturing facilities and authorized service centers. Till date, Samsung Technical Schools have provided technical training for job opportunities to over 1,700 youth.

One of the Company’s key citizenship initiatives is the Samsung Smart Healthcare program that has been designed to support the Government’s efforts to provide the best of healthcare to millions of citizens especially from the economically weaker sections. Through this program, Samsung provides government hospitals its innovative healthcare equipment such as ultrasound, digital radiology and accessories, with the aim to make affordable healthcare accessible to the large number of patients at select Government hospitals in Chennai, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Gurugram and Delhi.