Then Finance Minister John Mathai resigned shortly after presenting the budget.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget 2024-25 in the Parliament on July 23, 2024. Ahead of its presentation, several traditions are to be followed, one of which is the Halwa Ceremony. With the Halwa Ceremony, the printing of the budget documents gets the go-ahead. The printing process typically takes place in the basement of the North Block, which has a government press.
However, did you know that the budget documents were not always printed in the North Block?
In 1950, the Union Budget documents were leaked from the Rashtrapati Bhavan press, where they were being printed. John Mathai was the Finance Minister at this time. He was accused of serving the interests of powerful people and he resigned shortly after presenting the budget.
The incident led to the budget printing process being relocated from Rashtrapati Bhawan to a more secure facility on Minto Road.
Later, in 1980, the budget printing process was relocated again, this time to the basement of the North Block, where it remains to this day.
Over the years, the budget printing process has continued to evolve, with a focus on maintaining the highest levels of security and confidentiality.
Today, the process is a tightly guarded affair. The officials involved in the budget-making process are subject to a 'lock-in' period, during which they are isolated from the outside world to maintain secrecy.
They are not even allowed to use phones, and they are allowed to come out only after the Finance minister is done presenting the Union Budget in the Lok Sabha.