New Delhi: While India waits with bated breath for the Union Budget of tomorrow, the Halwa Ceremony has again made news. This peculiar custom, part and parcel of the budget-making process, is to prepare a sweet dish in a large cauldron at the North Block, which is the icing on the cake before the budget is presented.
This time-honoured ritual, where printing of budget documents begins, will be presided over soon by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Officials meet in the basement press of the North Block for the ceremony to partake in the sweet treat, which is taken to celebrate the end of months of hard work.
After the Halwa Ceremony, more than 100 staff members and officials Archived 5 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine responsible for the printing of budgets begin a 10-day lockdown in the basement of the North Block. These people are subject to this very strict measure—they are confined until the finance minister delivers her budget speech in Parliament, in order to ensure they do not pass on any information.
It goes back to 1950, when a budget leak came out during the printing process for Rashtrapati Bhavan and the finance minister, John Matthai, resigned that year. The Halwa Ceremony has become part of the budget printing process since 1980, as the printing has been the permanent home in the North Block basement.
The ceremony has special significance this year, as the mood ahead of the event is charged with high expectations that the government will undertake measures to help the middle and lower income sectors. Not only does the ritual mark the start of the budget printing process, but it also is a sign of appreciation for the officials for their dedication.
However, in 2022, when the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the ceremony, the distribution of sweets in place of the budget in a digital presentation, and the tradition has since resumed. India’s financial planning still captures the mix of cultural tradition and contemporary governance practices through the Halwa Ceremony.
Everyone is watching the North Block in the evening to see how the nation will shape India’s financial future for the upcoming year.