Sweet Secrets: The halwa ceremony before the budget presentation

The Halwa ceremony originates from the Indian tradition of having something sweet before an auspicious event.

The customary halwa ceremony marks the process of printing documents for the Budget. It is an age-old tradition, followed by successive Union governments a few days before the presentation of the budget in the parliament, so as to safeguard the secrecy and sanctity of the financial documents by ‘quarantining’ all those connected with the budget making exercises from interacting with the outside world.

The ceremony marks the beginning of the lock-up period, where all important officials are put in isolation and not allowed any communication with the outside world. They are all quarantined in the North Block in a basement and have no access to the internet.

They are not even allowed to call friends and family unless there’s an emergency. Even then, the calls are closely monitored.

The officials are allowed to come out only after the FM presents the Budget.