Finance Min Official Stays on Budget Duty Despite Father’s Death

The ministry added that Sharma is “the key hand to complete budget document printing task.”

Image of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman used for representational purposes.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Kuldeep Kumar Sharma – a veteran finance ministry official crucial to the printing of the Union Budget 2020 – did not abandon his duties “for even a minute” after being informed of his father’s death on Republic Day, 26 January.

“Displaying exemplary commitment, (he) symbolised extraordinary sincerity towards his call of duty, ignoring personal loss,” the ministry’s official handle wrote on Twitter.

The ministry added that Sharma has had 31 years of experience and is “the key hand to complete budget document printing task within a very tight schedule.”

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to table Union Budget 2020-21 in the Lok Sabha on Saturday, 1 February.

The printing of the Union Budget is a process carried out under extreme secrecy to ensure that there are no leaks of information.

Around two weeks ahead of the presentation, halwa is prepared for Finance Ministry officials concerned with the Budget preparation.

After the ‘halwa ceremony’, these officials are required to stay in the ministry and remain cut off from their families till the presentation of the Budget by the finance minister in the Lok Sabha.

They are not even allowed to contact their families through any form of communication, like phone calls or emails.