Mumbai: With just a week to go for unveiling of the Union Budget, the Halwa Ceremony was concluded in the North Block. Halwa ceremony is a ritual that is conducted to mark the beginning of Budget documents printing.
It is the following of Indian tradition of having something sweet before moving on to do an important task, in this case being Budget printing.
Ideally, the Finance Minister distributes Halwa to the Ministry Officials involved in Budget process. However, due to medical treatment of Mr. Arun Jaitley, he could not be present for the ceremony.
Both the Union Ministers of State (MoS) Mr. Shiv Pratap Shukla and Mr. Pon Radhakrishnan jointly launched the ceremony.
Once the ceremony is concluded, officials are not permitted to leave the premises. No contact can be established by them with outsiders, including their family members, except senior level officers may visit their homes.
All eyes are now set on what the Union Budget delivers on 1st of February.