Winning Bizness Desk

Mumbai. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is going to present the country's budget on February 1. There is always something new in every budget, but one thing has remained constant for the past 75 years is the secrecy observed while preparing the budget. Before the Finance Minister's speech, great deal of care is taken to ensure that things in the budget do not come out. For that, the budget preparation team has to stay in the finance ministry for a few days without being in touch with anyone. In this day and age of the internet and social media, nothing can be kept a secret for long. Even in such a situation, the finance ministry has succeeded in keeping the budget secret.

Contact with the world is severed

The budget is prepared with the help of some officials of the Union Finance Ministry and other departments. The team of officers selected for this is kept in the Ministry of Finance and they are not allowed to have any contact with the outside world. Those officers are quarantined in a way and every movement of these officers is closely monitored by the Intelligence Bureau. Delhi Police also help them in this work. The team consists of some legal experts from the Law Ministry, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) officials and Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC). Also, Press Information Bureau officers are kept in a basement to prepare copies of this budget.

Officers are not allowed to go home

These officers are not allowed to go home and all their food and lodging arrangements are made by the Ministry of Finance at North Block in Delhi. Mobile phones or other things of these people are collected while working inside. All internal computers are also disconnected from the server. This team is taken out when the Finance Minister presents the budget in Parliament.

Budget printing process

After preparing the budget, its printing process is started. The officers concerned with printing are confined to the basement area of the North Block, where the presses are kept. They are also not allowed to have phone or any other form of contact. In case of a supposed emergency, the officer is taken to a room where he is allowed to make calls in the presence of an intelligence officer.

Phone and internet off

Servers at this location are disconnected from the world. Computers in the press area are isolated from the National Informatics Center (NIC) servers to prevent any cyber theft. Electronic jammers are installed in the North Block as a precautionary measure to ensure that no information is leaked. There is only one landline in this location, that too with only incoming service. This team is taken out at the same time as Union Finance Minister presents the budget in Parliament.

The following key officers are involved in the budget preparation process,

• - Economic Affairs Secretary
• - Expenditure Secretary
• - Finance Secretary
• - Chief Economic Advisor
• - CBEC
• - CBDT Chairman
• - Minister of State for Finance
• - DIPAM Secretary
• - Financial Services Secretary