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FM Nirmala Sitharaman kicks off Budget process with halwa fete
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman with Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary and officials during the 'Halwa' ceremony to mark the final stage of Union Budget 2023-24, in New Delhi on Thursday
The 'halwa' ceremony, an annual ritual that heralds the Union Budget, returned after a year's break with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday stirring a 'kadhai' to mark the traditional event.
New Delhi: The 'halwa' ceremony, an annual ritual that heralds the Union Budget, returned after a year's break with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday stirring a 'kadhai' to mark the traditional event.
The ceremony is an annual ritual in which traditional dessert 'halwa' is prepared and served to officials and staff members of the finance ministry who were involved in the preparation of the Budget. It is organised every year in the basement of North Block, which houses the ministry in the national capital, and is attended by the finance minister and other high-ranking officials.
The ceremony was curtailed last year in view of the Covid-19 pandemic and instead sweets were distributed to the core staff. This year, the customary 'halwa' ceremony, performed every year before the 'lock-in' process of Budget preparation begins, coincided with Republic Day.
Sitharaman is scheduled to present on February 1 her fifth straight budget for the fiscal year beginning April 1. As part of the 'halwa' ceremony, the finance minister also took a tour of the Budget Press and reviewed the preparations besides extending her best wishes to the officials concerned. What is 'halwa' ceremony? The ceremony is kind of a 'send-off' for finance ministry officials and staff involved with the preparation of the Union government's annual financial statement.
They enter what is called a 'lock-in' period, during which they stay in the basement of North Block, cut off from the world outside with a view to maintaining the secrecy around the final budget document.
