All you need to know about the Halwa ceremony
FM Nirmala Sitharaman participated in the Halwa ceremony, ahead of the union budget 2024.
Jul 17, 2024
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What is the Halwa ceremony?
Yesterday, FM Nirmala Sitharaman participated in the Halwa ceremony in the North block. The ceremony, which takes place 6-7 days before the budget, acknowledges the efforts of all officials involved in preparing the budget.
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What does the Halwa ceremony signify?
The ceremony marks the start of budget document printing. This is organized in North Block's basement and attended by the finance minister and other ministry officials. However, with everything going digital, only a few key budget documents are now printed.
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Where does the halwa ceremony take place?
The Halwa ceremony takes place in the basement of North Block, which houses the finance ministry. The ceremony marks the start of the budget document printing.
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Start of lock-in period
The halwa ceremony also marks the start of the lock-in period till the budget presentation. Until 23rd July, all officials directly involved in the making and printing the budget document will stay inside the ministry, with no contact from the outside world.
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No contact till budget is tabled
The officials directly involved in budget printing are prohibited from contacting their relatives or family members until the budget is tabled. This is done to maintain complete secrecy and ensure that no information related to budget is leaked out.
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History behind the lock-in
In 1950, the budget documents were leaked from the Rashtrapati Bhawan Press, where they were originally printed. Accused of serving the interests of powerful people, the erstwhile finance minister has to resign. Since then, officials are locked in to maintain secrecy.
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Printing press shifted to North Block
Since 1980, budget printing has been taking place in the North block, which continued till 2020. After the government went paperless, only a few, key budget documents are printed for record purposes.
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Budget documents available online
All budget documents will be available on the “Union Budget Mobile App” in both English and Hindi, after the Finance Minister's budget speech on 23rd July. They will also be available online on indiabudget.gov.in
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Budget presentation on 23rd July
On July 23rd, Nirmala Sitharaman will deliver her seventh consecutive budget speech. Former Prime Minister Morarji Desai c holds the record for presenting most budgets (10). He is followed by P Chidambaram and Pranab Mukherjee.
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