FM Sitharaman leads symbolic pre-Budget 'Halwa ceremony' as 2021 Budget goes paperless

Ahead of the Union Budget presentation on February 1, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday, led the Halwa ceremony held at the North Block. Accompanying her were  Union Minister of State for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur, Finance Secretary Dr A B Pandey, Expenditure Secretary and others. While the Halwa ceremony marks the printing of the Budget documents, this year's Union Budget will be paperless, owing to the prevalent COVID-19 pandemic. 

FM Sitharaman leads iconic 'Halwa Ceremony' as Budget 2020 countdown officially begins

Pre-Budget Halwa ceremony held

Congress' Manish Tewari calls paperless Budget '21 'cheap theatre'; trashes India on Covid

What is the Halwa Ceremony?

Around 10 days or so before the documents connected to the Budget are printed, a halwa (pudding) is cooked in a large vessel and distributed to officials directly associated with the Budget.  Following this ceremony, traditionally, officials are locked in the North Block, cut off from the outside world and are let out only before the actual presentation begins in the Parliament. A mobile phone jammer is installed inside the Finance Ministry to prevent the leakage of information. 

They are not even allowed to contact their near and dear ones through phone or any other form of communication, like e-mail. Only very senior officials in the finance ministry are permitted to go home. The ceremony of making Halwa is connected to the tradition of having something sweet before carrying out an auspicious task. 

From healthcare to divestment target; Here are key expectations from Union Budget 2021

Paperless Union Budget 2021

Marking a first, the Centre has decided not to print documents related to the Union Budget for the fiscal beginning of April (FY 2021-22). All MPs will get soft copies of the budget and Economic Survey that contains an account of the state of the economy. The Budget documents will be available on the Mobile App - “Union Budget Mobile App” after the completion of the Budget Speech by the Finance Minister in Parliament on 1st February 2021. the App developed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) under the guidance of the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) is available both in Hindi and English and will be available on both Android and iOS platforms. The two-part Union Budget session will start from January 29 till February 15 and the second session will take place between 8 March and 8 April.

Two-part Budget session of Parliament to begin from Jan 29; Question Hour to make comeback