Budget 2023: 'Halwa ceremony' to be held on Jan 26 before 'lock-in' of budget officials

The traditional 'Halwa ceremony' before the budget will be held before the “lock-in” process of officials involved in Budget preparation in the presence of Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday.

New Delhi :A customary Halwa ceremony will be performed before the “lock-in” process of officials involved in Budget preparation in the presence of Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday. The customary halwa ceremony, which marks the process of printing documents for the Union Budget, will be hosted by the Finance Ministry on Thursday ahead of the presentation of the Union Budget on February 1.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of State for Finance, Secretaries of the Finance Ministry, and other officials of the ministry will be present at the ceremony, which will be held at North Block. The ceremony was skipped last year due to the covid-19 pandemic, and has been resumed after a year's gap.

Every year, the government follows an annual tradition of hosting a halwa ceremony a few days before the Budget is presented. The making of halwa marks the official kick-off of events. The ceremony also recognizes and lauds the efforts of every staff who have been a part of the budget-making process.

The Finance Minister begins the ceremony by stirring the halwa in a kadhai and then serves it to her colleagues at the Ministry's headquarters in Delhi. After the ceremony, the employees who are a part of the budget-making process move to the basement of North Block for around 10 days, until the budget is presented.

"They (officials involved in the making of the budget) will only emerge out of the North block once the Finance Minister presents the Budget in Parliament. This is done to prevent any leaks before the annual Budget is presented," one of the officials in the ministry said.