The Ecosystem That Keeps It Lit
Case study · Mission URJA Village
The question every serious funder asks: what happens after you leave? The answer is four pillars, each with a named owner.
A Mission URJA village is kept lit by four pillars: the URJA Samiti, a village governance body that decides and oversees; URJA Technicians, local youth trained to install and maintain; the URJA Corpus, a community-funded maintenance reserve; and URJA Governance, the agreed rules for discipline and accountability. TREEI builds all four before handover, around month eleven.
Figures as of October 2026 from our live public dashboard.
Why do most village solar projects go dark?
Decentralised solar rarely fails because the panels stop working. It fails because the social and technical scaffolding around it collapses: maintenance is deferred, contributions go uncollected, batteries degrade without replacement, and within two years the system is dormant. Mission URJA is built against that pattern.
URJA Samiti
Decides and oversees. A village-level governance body formed in every village we energise.
URJA Technicians
Keep it running. Local energy stewards trained for installation and maintenance.
URJA Corpus
Pays for upkeep. A community-funded maintenance and sustainability reserve.
URJA Governance
Holds everyone to account. Rules for discipline, accountability and long-term sustainability, agreed with the village.
Who does what, and when?
| Stage | What happens | Who leads |
|---|---|---|
| Months 1–2 · Foundation | Village selection, baseline survey, URJA Samiti formed | TREEI with the village |
| Months 3–5 · Preparation | System design, load planning, procurement | TREEI technical team |
| Months 6–8 · Installation | Solar build, testing, household activation; technicians train on the job | TREEI + local technicians |
| Months 9–10 · Reinforcement | Technician handholding, Samiti-led reviews | Samiti + technicians, TREEI supporting |
| Month 11 onwards · Handover | Formal handover, corpus activation, long-term tracking | The village |
What does each pillar actually do day to day?
The Samiti is where the village makes decisions: who is served first, how contributions are set, what gets fixed when. Technicians handle first-line faults: reading the charge controller, testing battery voltage, finding loose connections, replacing fuses. The Corpus means that when a part needs replacing, the money already exists in the village. Governance is the agreement that holds the other three to their roles.
“Not charity that decays: a village-owned asset that lasts.”Mission URJA
How do we know the handover holds?
Handover is not the end of tracking. Every village is counted from its own record on our public dashboard from the day it is commissioned. Follow-up visits are audits, not rescues: the Samiti is expected to have logged faults and made minor repairs with the skills and tools provided.
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Frequently asked questions
What happens to Mission URJA systems after TREEI leaves?
The village runs them through an URJA Samiti, trained local technicians, a community maintenance corpus and agreed governance rules.
What is an URJA Samiti?
A village-level governance body formed in every Mission URJA village. The community decides and the community oversees.
When is a Mission URJA village handed over?
Formal handover and corpus activation happen from about month eleven, after installation and a reinforcement phase.