Delhi: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is going to present the country’s budget (Union Budget 2023) on 1 February. There is always something new in every budget, but one thing has remained constant for the last 75 years. That is the secrecy followed while preparing the budget. Before the Finance Minister’s speech, special care is taken that the budget talks should not go out of the way. For that, the budget preparation team has to stay in the Finance Ministry for a few days without coming in contact with anyone. In this day and age of internet and social media, nothing can be kept secret for long. Even in this situation, the Finance Ministry has been successful in keeping the budget a secret. The budget is prepared with the help of some officials of the Union Finance Ministry and other departments.
Intelligence Bureau’s sharp eye
For this, the team of selected officers has been kept in the Ministry of Finance. They are not allowed any kind of contact with the outside world. Those officers have been quarantined in a way. The Intelligence Bureau is keeping a close watch on every action of these officers. Delhi Police also helps them in this work. The team includes officials from the Law Ministry, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and some legal experts from the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC). Also, the officials of the Press Information Bureau are kept in a basement to prepare copies of this budget.
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Electronic jammers have been installed
These officers are not being allowed to go home. The Ministry of Finance makes all arrangements for their food and stay in Delhi’s North Block. While working inside, these people’s mobile phones or other things get accumulated. After preparing the budget, its printing process is started. The printing officers are confined to the basement area of North Block, where the presses are kept. They are also not allowed to contact them by phone or any other form as the servers at this place are disconnected from the world. The computers in the Press area are isolated from the servers of the National Informatics Center (NIC) to prevent any cyber theft. Electronic jammers have been installed in the North Block as a precautionary measure to prevent any information leakage. This team is called out when the Finance Minister presents the budget in the Parliament.