- By Talib Khan
- Fri, 31 Jan 2020 10:06 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
New Delhi | Jagran Business Desk: The government is just weeks away to present the General Budget for the Financial Year 2020-21. The Annual Budget will be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1, 2020. While it just takes one day to be presented in the Parliament, it takes several months to prepare the Budget.
But the presentation of the Annual Budget has an unusual ritual attached to it, unlike the formal culture of the governmental institutions. The ‘Halwa Ceremony’ is a customary ritual which marks the process of printing documents for the Budget.
Every year, the government follows an annual tradition of hosting a halwa ceremony, a few days before the Budget is presented. The making of halwa marks the official kick-off of events.
The customary halwa ceremony, which marks the process of printing documents, will be hosted by the Finance Ministry on January 20, ahead of the presentation of the Union Budget on February 1. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, other officials of the ministry and clerks will be present at the ceremony which will be held at the North Block.
The ceremony also recognises and lauds the efforts of every staff who have been a part of the budget-making process. However, there are no historical traces of when the ritual first began. As part of the ritual, halwa is prepared in a big vessel and served to the staff of the Ministry.
After the ceremony, the employees who are a part of the budget-making process, move to the basement of North Block for around 10 days. They will only emerge once the Finance Minister presents the Budget in Parliament. This is done to prevent any leaks before the annual Budget is presented as the budget printing process is one of India's most secretive operations.
The Budget papers, till 1950 used to be printed in Rashtrapati Bhavan. However, the venue changed to North Block after a leak was reported and has been unchanged ever since.
(With ANI Inputs)