September 2025 Household Survey Enumerators workshop, India 

The Urban SHADE project in India conducted a training of enumerators for conducting the Household Survey: Social and Health Vulnerability Assessment in September. The workshops were held first in Vijayawada and then Shimla in five-day spans between September 8, 2025, to September 22, 2025. 

In both the workshops, the research team conducted a focus group discussion with the enumerators to get a pulse on their understanding and knowledge about the different informal settlements we are studying, impact of extreme weather events in such settlements among others. Many of the enumerators who had prior experience conducting surveys participated wholeheartedly on their understanding of extreme weather events, and the various challenges in conducting surveys in the field. 

The research team including Hemanth Chandu, Malini Aisola, Inayat Kakar and Yetika Dolker explained to the enumerators about the Urban SHADE project and broadened their understanding of extreme weather events and how it affects people with different vulnerabilities especially the poor who live in informal settlements, disabled, or those with precarious jobs, or with chronic illnesses differently. Each section of the survey, and their questions were explained to the enumerators.

The sessions covered Ethics related to data collection in great detail. It was emphasised that the data collection must be implemented consistent with the principles of the Human Rights Based-Approach to Data. The research team spoke about maintaining confidentiality and privacy of the people who will be asked questions from the questionnaire. The enumerators were made aware of the gender and cultural norms that could come to play while conducting the survey. The research team also highlighted that data collection should not lead to further discrimination among the already marginalised communities that the Urban SHADE project works with. 

The interviewers were given detailed instructions on preparing for the survey, introducing themselves, obtaining consent, and taking a survey. The participants were given mock practice sessions where one of them played the respondent and other played the enumerator.  The situations included dealing with a busy mother who had no time, or a person concerned about the survey leaking information to the government. The situations which were designed to be tough helped the enumerators practice their skills in seeking consent and trying to convince people for a survey by being transparent and respectful. The role-playing activity broke the monotony of the typical workshop with presentations. 

Balaji Rao Nemala gave hands-on training on how to map settlements where the survey is to be conducted. Nemala (photo below) who is the Project Manager with The George Institute, has handled trials all over India in both urban and rural settlements. Mapping literally means drawing a map of the settlement on paper.

Nemala guided the enumerators in the field on how to map the structures in a way that they do not miss a single house. This exercise gets complicated in informal settlements, which barely have any straight paths. In Shimla this was compounded by the fact that the settlements are on hilltops which required a lot of physical labour of climbing up and down the hilltops. The enumerators covered the length and breadth of the settlements marking structures in each of the narrow lanes of the settlements. The people in the settlements who were curious about the exercise asked them about it, giving the enumerators a chance to explain the survey to them. 

Bijini Bahuleyan, Data Manager withThe George Institute made the data base for the survey which is to be conducted in Telegu and Hindi. She also helped participants log on RedCap software which will be used for data collection in the survey, and trained them on how to use the software for data collection. 

The survey is expected to begin in October. In Vijayawada and Guntur informal settlements (Vambay Colony, RR Peta and Sarada Colony), the survey will be conducted in Telegu. In the Shimla informal settlements (Krishna Nagar and Eidgah colony), the survey will be conducted in Hindi.