Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman holds 'Halwa' ceremony ahead of Union Budget

The Union Budget will be presented on February 1.

Marking the initiation of Union Budget 2021, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman hosted the customary halwa ceremony at the North Block on Saturday.

Sitharaman was accompanied by the Minister of State for finance Anurag Thakur, secretaries of finance ministry and other officials of the ministry. (ANI Photo)

The Union Budget will be presented on February 1.

Sitharaman was accompanied by the Minister of State for finance Anurag Thakur, secretaries of finance ministry and other officials of the ministry.

'Halwa ceremony’ has been a tradition which has continued for long. As part of the ritual, ‘halwa’ is prepared in a big ‘kadhai’ (vessel) and served to the entire staff in the ministry.

The sweet dish is served among a large number of officials and support staff, who are directly involved in the Budget making and printing process. In a bid to prevent the leak of information, the officials are required to stay in the ministry and remain cut off from their families till the presentation of the Budget by the finance minister in the Lok Sabha.

The ceremony also recognises and lauds the efforts of every staff who have been a part of the budget-making process.

Since this is the first Budget presentation held in the wake of a disease outbreak, there will be no printing of the Union Budget and economic survey which is going to the tabled in the Parliament on January 29.

The first part of the Budget Session will start on January 29 and continue till February 15, and the second part of the session will be from March 8 to April 8, Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla said.

Birla said Rajya Sabha will function from 9 am to 2 pm and Lok Sabha from 4 pm to 9 pm with Zero Hour and Question Hour.

Members of Parliament have been requested to undergo an RT-PCR test to prevent spread of Covid-19.