New Delhi: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman kicked off the process of printing documents for the Union Budget-2020 by hosting a ‘Halwa Ceremony.’ Sitharaman along with other senior (Finance) Ministry officials and clerks observed the symbolic ritual at North Block.

The customary ‘Halwa Ceremony’ is observed every year by the respective Finance Minister to mark the beginning of the process of printing the documents pertaining to the Budget. This tradition of hosting a Halwa Ceremony is observed a few days before the Budget is presented as it marks the official beginning of events.

The Indian dessert is prepared in a big ‘kadhai’ (vessel) and is served to the entire staff of the Finance Ministry. The key significance of this ceremony is that this also marks the beginning of printing of documents related to Union Budget. 

Another crucial thing happens after the Ceremony. The officials and employees, who are entrusted with direct responsibility of Budget making and printing process, are quarantined. 

After this ceremony, several officials and support staff of the Ministry are locked down in the Ministry and remain cut off from their families till the presentation of the Budget by the Finance Minister in the Lok Sabha.

They are not even allowed to contact (through phone or any other form of communication) their families in the run-up to the Budget day. They will be allowed to speak to their families only through designated phones. Only top officials and the Minister herself are allowed to talk through their mobile phones and if need be, the Government even can put them under surveillance. This is done to maintain secrecy of the entire Budget process and ensure that there is no leak of information before its (Budget) presentation.

The Union Budget-2020 will be presented by the Finance Minister at a time when India’s GDP has dipped to a six-year low amidst a consistent slowdown in the economy as well as weak demand. According to the Lok Sabha calendar, Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget-2020 on February 1.