New Delhi4 months ago
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Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has written a letter to Nirmala Sitharaman requesting to write a letter to Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
The Union Budget 2024-25 will be presented on February 1. Its preparations have been completed. The traditional Halwa ceremony will be celebrated this evening (January 24) as the printing of budget-related documents begins. The event took place at the Union Finance Ministry headquarters in North Block, Delhi.
Here Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was seen opening a large iron rod containing halwa. After this, the Finance Minister served halwa to the officials of the ministry. Union Minister of State for Finance Dr. Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad, Pankaj Chaudhary and senior officials of the Finance Ministry were present on this occasion.
What is Halwa Ceremony?
Halwa is prepared in the Finance Ministry before the budget is finalised. This ritual has been going on for a long time. The main reason for the Halwa ceremony is to start auspicious work with sweets.
Halwa ceremony was not celebrated for two years due to COVID-19
In the year 2021 and 2022, this ritual was neither stopped due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Instead, sweets were given to the core staff following the Covid protocol. These are the employees who are involved in the budget making process and who are kept under house arrest.
These officers and employees come in contact with their family members and friends only after the Union Finance Minister presents the budget in Parliament. The purpose of this is to keep the budget confidential.
What is a budget?
Just as we need a budget to run our home, similarly a budget is needed to run the country. The budget we make for our home is usually for a month.
In this we keep a record of how much we spent and earned this month. Similarly, the country’s budget is also made. It contains the account of the year’s expenses and earnings.
The entire budget process
1. First of all, the Finance Ministry has issued a circular to all ministries, states, union territories, autonomous governments to prepare estimates for the new year. Apart from giving estimates for the new year, they also have to give the burden of expenditure and income of the previous year.
2. After getting the estimate, its footprints are being completed apart from the central government. There is an in-depth discussion on this between the concerned ministries and the officials of the expenditure department. After this, the report is sent to the Finance Ministry.
3. The Finance Ministry after considering all claims, determines the revenue entitled for their expenditure. The Department of Revenue and Financial Affairs works to deeply understand the challenges farmers and small traders face and interact with foreign exchange traders.
4. In the pre-budget cover, the Finance Minister meets the concerned parties to know their proposals and provisions. These include representatives of the states, bankers, agricultural scientists, economists and representatives of the employee organization. After the pre-budget confusion is over, the Finance Minister takes the final decision on all the states. Before finalizing the budget, the Finance Minister also talks to the Prime Minister.
5. Halwa ceremony takes place a few days before the budget is presented. Halwa prepared in a big sheet is sent to the staff of the Finance Ministry. With this, the printing process of the budget begins. The officers and supporting staff involved in the process remain in the ministry till the budget is presented. This financial year’s budget was not printed and its soft copy was given to the members of Parliament.
6. The Finance Minister presents the General Budget in the Lok Sabha. Until 2016, it was presented on the last day of February. From 2017, it started being presented on 1 February every year. This year, for the first time, all the budget documents were made available on the Union Budget Mobile.
