Unpacking the Crisis: Household Indebtedness and Climate Change
14-15 September 20
26
Brief Overview
The Centre for Financial Accountability (CFA) organised a two-day orientation workshop titled “Unpacking the Crisis: Household Indebtedness and Climate Change” for 10 selected survey enumerators (all women) at the Thunag Gram Panchayat Hall, Thunag, Seraj Block, Mandi District, Himachal Pradesh, on 14-15 September 2026. The training was facilitated by Anirban Bhattacharya, Amitanshu Verma, and Arjun Unnikrishnan from CFA. Sukhdev Viswapremi and Bhagatram from Rural Technology and Development Centre presided over the session along with Sanjay Kumar, representing the Financial Resilience Centre, jointly established by CFA and RTDC in Thunag.
The session was also attended by local representatives, including Panchayat Pradhans Oma Devi (Thunag) and Soma Devi (Pakhrer), and Ward Members Dinesh Kumar, Renu Thakur, and Nirmala Devi (all from Pakhrer).
The presence of the representatives of the local Panchayats and their support towards both the survey and overall objectives of the survey was crucial as far as the proposed Financial Resilience Centre’s viability is concerned. A pamphlet written exclusively with the context of Mandi underlined was shared with all participants to share with them the purpose, intent, urgency and objectives of the intervention.
During the discussion, it was proposed that the survey findings be shared with all panchayats in the Block, and that a meeting be convened at the district headquarters in Mandi to present the results to representatives of the Lead Bank, NABARD, and Disaster Management officials.
The 10 survey enumerators present were Khim Dasi, Diksha Kumari, Chinta Devi, and Sarojini from Thunag; Swati Devi, Naveen Kumari, and Reema Devi from Pakhrer; and Parvati Devi, Dropati Devi, and Anita Devi from Jhundhi.
Over the two days, enumerators were taken through the objectives of the training, followed by two experience-sharing rounds: one on the impact of credit on rural households, and another on climate change and climate disasters and their impact on the Thunag valley and the wider Himachali ecosystem, where participants spoke at length from their own lived experience and financial stress. The discussion then moved to the objectives of the proposed survey on Credit, Indebtedness & Climate Vulnerability in Himachal Pradesh, outlining what the survey seeks to uncover and why. The training concluded with a hands-on orientation to the survey instruments, including the questionnaire and the KoBo digital tool, along with a trial run to prepare enumerators for fieldwork.
Read the full report here.
