NEW DELHI: Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, along with minister of State Pankaj Chaudhary and secretaries, attended the ‘halwa’ ceremony marking the final stage in preparing the full Budget for the fiscal year 2024-25, at North Block in Delhi on Tuesday.
The ceremony was also attended by officers and staff who are involved in the budget preparation and compilation process.
What is halwa ceremony?
During Halwa ceremony, a large ‘kadhai’ is used to prepare the Indian sweet dish, Halwa, at the North Block and as part of the ceremony, the Finance Minister ritualistically stirs the ‘kadhai’ and serves the halwa to everyone involved in the Budget-making process.
This tradition serves as a recognition of the hard work put in by all the finance ministry officials. The halwa ceremony also marks the beginning of the process of printing all the budget documents in preparation for the presentation in Parliament.
When is the ceremony held?
Every year, before the “lock-in” process of budget preparation begins, a traditional halwaceremony is held.
The halwa ceremony holds great significance as it signals the commencement of the lockdown at the finance ministry. During this period, no official is permitted to exit the ministry premises.
The entire Budget team can only depart after the financial document has been presented in Parliament. Since 1980, the Union Budget has been consistently printed in the basement situated at the North Block.
Sitharaman’s sixth Budget Presentation
With the upcoming Budget Presentation, Sitharaman will surpass the record set by former Prime Minister Morarji Desai, who presented five annual budgets and one interim budget between 1959 and 1964 as finance minister. Sitharaman’s forthcoming Budget speech will be her sixth.
Similar to the recent full Union Budgets, the Budget 2024 will also be delivered in a paperless format. On February 1, an Interim Union Budget 2024 was presented, as the nation was preparing for general elections.
The “Union Budget Mobile App” will provide easy access to all Union Budget documents, as mandated by the Constitution, including the Annual Financial Statement (popularly known as Budget), Demand for Grants (DG), and Finance Bill, among others. This app will ensure that the public can access these documents without any hassle.
Parliament’s budget session is set to commence on July 22 and is scheduled to conclude on August 12.
(With inputs from agencies)
