Printing of Budget document begins with 'halwa' ceremony

The process of printing documents for the Budget 2016-17 began today with the ritual ‘halwa ceremony’, which was attended by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and his deputy Jayant Sinha in the North Block office.As part of the ritual, which has continued for long, ‘halwa’ is prepared in a big ‘kadhai’ (large frying pot) and served to the entire staff in the ministry.Finance Secretary Ratan Watal, Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia, Economic Affairs Secretary and other officers and staff of the ministry involved with Budget preparation were also present.The significance of the sweet dish is that after it is served, a large number of officials and support staff, who are directly associated with the Budget making and printing process, are required to stay in the ministry and remain cut off from their families till the presentation of the Budget by the minister in the Lok Sabha.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.