For the Finance Ministry officials in the North Block of Central Secretariat, a week before the Union Budget announced on February 1, is always stressful. But for Kuldeep Kumar Sharma working on this year’s Budget has been particularly difficult as his father passed away on January 26 while he was in the lock-in.

Sharma, who has 31 years of experience in the Budget process, has been tasked with the printing of confidential Budget documents.

Despite the loss, Sharma decided not to leave the press area given the nature of his duty showing extraordinary sincerity. The Ministry praised Sharma’s dedication on the micro-blogging site – Twitter.

‘Informing with regret that Shri Kuldeep Kumar Sharma, Dy Manager (Press), lost his father on January 26, 2020. Being on Budget duty, he was on the job in the lock-in. In spite of his immense loss, Sharma decided not to leave the press area even for a minute,’ said a Finance Ministry tweet.

Netizens showered praises on Sharma for his service to the nation.

Ahead of the Budget, the security is tight in the North Block basement where these papers are printed and stored. The personnel involved in the exercise are not allowed to go out for almost ten days, from the day printing starts until its presentation.

The printing of Budget papers begins with ‘halwa’ ceremony. It takes place in the presence of the Finance Minister. After ‘halwa’ is distributed among the Finance Ministry staff, people who are involved in the printing of Budget are locked in the basement of North Block.

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