Continuing the tradition, the Ministry of Finance on Wednesday said the Union Budget 2023-24 will be delivered in paperless form like the last two budgets. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the budget on February 1. “The Budget documents will be available on the Union Budget Mobile App on both the Android and Apple OS platforms after the completion of the Finance Minister’s speech in Parliament,” the Ministry tweeted.
The mobile application for the Union Budget was launched last year. The app was developed to provide hassle-free access to documents by Members of Parliament and the general public after the process of the Budget presentation is completed in Parliament. This year’s Budget is Prime Minister Narendra Modi government’s last full budget before the next Lok Sabha elections that are scheduled to take place in April-May 2024.
The Halwa Ceremony
The Halwa ceremony marks the final stage of the Budget preparation process. In the ceremony, the Finance Minister stirs the halwa in a cauldron and then serves it to their colleagues at the Ministry headquarters. The ceremony will be held tomorrow. Along with the Union FM, the Halwa ceremony will be attended by the Union Ministers of State for Finance, along with Secretaries of the Ministry of Finance besides senior officials and members of the Union Budget Press, the Ministry said.
Last year, the customary ceremony did not take place for the first time due to COVID-related restrictions and instead sweets were provided to the core staff due to undergoing “lock-in” at their workplaces, news agency ANI reported.