JOIN USThe process of printing documents for the Budget 2015-16 kickstarted on Thursday with the ritual ‘halwa ceremony’, which was attended by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the North Block office.
The traditional halwa ceremony in which dessert was prepared in a big vessel and served to officials associated with printing the secret document in the North Block which houses the Finance Ministry office.
The significance of the sweet dish is that after it is served, officials and support staff, who are directly associated with the Budget making and printing process, are required to stay in the ministry office and remain cut off from their families till the presentation of the Budget by the minister in the Lok Sabha. Even they are not allowed to use any mode of communication with the outside world.
They are not even allowed to contact their near and dear ones through phone or any other form of communication, like email. Only very senior officials in the Finance Ministry are permitted to go home.
As is customary, the ceremony was also attended by the Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha and other senior officials of the ministry. The ‘halwa’ is served to the entire staff in the ministry. The Budget is scheduled to be unveiled in Parliament on February 28.