New Delhi: In a significant break from decades-old tradition, the Union Finance Ministry, for the first time ever, has decided not to print Budget 2021 and go paperless.
The decision was taken in the wake of the sanitization protocol remaining in force because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This is the first time in the history of independent India that Budget papers will not be printed, officials said on Monday.
The decision was taken as the printing process requires more than 100 people to stay at the government press for around a fortnight, at the basement of North Block, until the Finance Minister tables the Budget in Parliament. This will not happen this year due to the pandemic.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Budget for 2021-22 in the Lok Sabha on February 1.
The decision to go paperless also means that there will not be a halwa ceremony, traditionally launched by the Finance Minister just before the printing of papers begins.
Earlier, this ceremony was attended by all those involved in Budget-making. After completion of printing, trucks were loaded with Budget papers, a sight many will miss in Parliament this year.
There will also be no need for a bahi khata to carry the Budget papers.
Last year, Sitharaman had dropped the leather briefcase in favor of a traditional bahi-khata. The Budget documents, including the Finance Minister’s speech copy, Finance Bill, and other important papers, used to be carried earlier in a brown briefcase.
(VP)