Sitharaman takes Tablet in red pouch to present budget

Poses with traditional 'briefcase' outside her North Block office, accompanied by her team of officials, before heading to meet the President

New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday will present her eighth consecutive Budget, which she will deliver from a digital tablet enclosed in a traditional ‘bahi-khata’ style pouch.

Sitharaman, India’s first full-time woman Finance Minister, broke away from the colonial tradition of carrying a Budget briefcase in July 2019, opting instead for a traditional ‘bahi-khata’, to carry the Union Budget papers.

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She continued this custom the following year, and in the pandemic-affected 2021, she replaced the traditional papers with a digital tablet to carry her speech and other Budget documents. This tradition continues on Saturday.

Draped in an off-white handloom silk saree with fish-themed embroidery and golden border, Sitharaman posed for the traditional ‘briefcase’ photo outside her North Block office, accompanied by her team of officials, before heading to meet the President.

With the tablet securely placed inside a red cover featuring a golden national emblem, her next stop will be Parliament, after her meeting with President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhawan.